Method and System for Efficient Communication

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for efficiently directing communications are disclosed. On example entails receiving, from a mobile terminal, a communication directed to a cellular communication network, the communication being received in an alternative channel that differs from a channel of the cellular communication network. The communication is then converted for a relayed communication to the cellular communication network on behalf of the mobile terminal, the relayed communication being made through the cellular communication network.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 15/626,192, which is acontinuation of Ser. No. 15/417,111, which is a continuation of Ser. No.15/070,439, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 13/833,328, which is acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 14/296,662 filed on Jun. 5,2014, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 13/370,483, filed on Feb. 10,2012, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/067,079, whichis a continuation of Ser. No. 11/802,418, which claims priority ofprovisional Application 60/899,037 filed on Feb. 2, 2007. ApplicationSer. No. 11/802,418 is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.11/501,747, entitled “System and Method for providing Locally ApplicableInternet Content with Secure Action Requests and Item Condition Alerts”and filed on Aug. 10, 2006, which claims priority to provisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/787,510, entitled “An Intelligent Kiosk forMobile Payment” and filed on Mar. 31, 2006, and also claims the benefitof provisional Application Ser. No. 60/707,561, entitled “A NovelStructure of Cellular System for Internet Access” and filed on Aug. 12,2005. The entire contents of these applications are hereby incorporatedby reference.

As a continuation-in-part claiming priority to application Ser. No.11/501,747, this application is also a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 11/165,341, filed on Jun. 24, 2005 and entitled“Methods, Systems, and Apparatus for Displaying the MultimediaInformation from Wireless Communication Networks,” which claims priorityto provisional Application Ser. No. 60/588,358, filed on Jul. 16, 2004and entitled “A Method and System for Displaying the MultimediaInformation from Wireless Communications or Portable IT.” The entirecontents of these applications are also hereby incorporated byreference.

This application is also a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.14/639,156, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/540,637,filed on Oct. 2, 2006 and entitled “A Method and System for ImprovingClient Server Transmission over Fading Channel with Wireless Locationand Authentication Technology via Electromagnetic Radiation”, whichclaims priority to provisional Application Ser. Nos. 60/722,444 filed onOct. 3, 2005, 60/787,510 filed on Mar. 31, 2006, and 60/832,962 filed onJul. 25, 2006. The entire contents of these applications are also herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to providing systems and methods forefficient communication.

2. Description of the Related Art

Empowered by the next generation of wireless technology, cellularnetworks can provide users with access to information from the Internetsuch as video on demand, video conferences, databases, etc. The use ofcellular phones is thus no longer limited to voice transmission.

However, there are still some problems with the delivery of Internetcontent through cellular phones. For example, even with the highbandwidth connection provided by advanced cellular Systems, thereremains a bottleneck between the Internet and the cellular network (CN),as well as delays caused by the Internet itself. This condition hindersthe ability of cellular phone users to fully exploit the capabilities ofthe advanced CN. Since smooth and effective data flow is important tousers, this bottleneck hinders the adoption of cellular phones forInternet access.

Making payment requests is another area of need. Although more and moreindividuals have become accustomed to purchasing goods and servicesonline, there is not a streamlined and consistent mechanism for securelymaking requests for such payments.

Still another area of need relates to alerts. Locations including homes,offices, and other environments typically include computing devices aswell as at least some form of network connection. Despite all of thisconnectivity, there are certain conditions for which adequate alertsremain unavailable. For example, billions of children wear diapers, andprobably a quarter of them may suffer the effects of wet diapers at anygiven moment, since caretakers (e.g., parents, baby sitters, etc.) arenot apprised of the status of their diapers in real time.

Thus, there remains a need for Systems and corresponding devices andprocesses that avoid the shortcomings of existing networks fordelivering Internet content using the CN. There also remains a need forSystems and corresponding techniques for making payment requests. Therealso remains a need for Systems and corresponding techniques fordelivering alerts to individuals such as caregivers tasked with managinga child in diapers.

Handheld mobile terminals (e.g., cellular phones, personal digitalassistants (PDA)) continue to evolve both in terms of execution platformand functionality. It is believed that the much of the functionalityprovided by a personal computer (e.g., desktop or laptop) willultimately become virtually available in handheld mobile terminals,which will allow users to work with and access multimedia informationany time and anywhere.

For example, one particularly appealing advantage of the next generationwireless communication system and beyond (i.e., 3G, 4G, etc.) is thecapacity to support high rate multimedia data services as well asconventional voice services. In a conventional cellular system a mobileterminal communicates with a base station wirelessly. Multimediainformation including but not limited to television, 3D images, networkgames, and video phone calls is transmitted from various serviceproviders and received for display on the screen of a mobile terminal.The net result of such a system is rich multimedia information beingdestined for display on the small screens typical of cellular phones (orthe like).

In these and similar Systems, the mobile terminal functions as amultimedia terminal to display multimedia information (includinghigh-resolution graphics and high-quality real-time audio/video) sentfrom high data rate wireless communications network. The limited size(e.g., 2×3″) and capability of the mobile terminal screen may renderenjoyment of the high rate data flow applications inconvenient, and insome instances useless. One consequence of this inadequacy is likelyshrinkage of the potential market size for handheld mobile terminals.Indeed, some have suggested that development of high data rate Systemssuch as 3G Systems may be pointless given the limitations imposed by thesmall screen.

Some mobile units appear to provide a remote control function to anexternal display system. However, these do not appear to solve the smallscreen problem outlined above. That is, they do not accommodate displayon a larger, external display of video and other multimedia informationoriginally destined for the mobile terminal display screen.

For example, one such interface accommodates usage of the mobileterminal as a remote control for a television, by feeding programmingguide information to the mobile terminal. This is useful for allowingthe programming guide to be viewed locally while the larger screendisplays a current program, but does not address to the above-describedsmall screen problem.

Still another issue is the various different devices that a user mayhave to engage in communications, as well as the various differentvehicles for the enjoyment of content that the user now has. No longerdoes the typical user merely watch television. Instead, the user may usetheir home computer, television, MP3, PDA, cellular phone or varioushybrid devices to enjoy content. This content also arrives from avariety of sources, not just broadcast television as in the past. Whileit may be desirable to have more options, some consumers may feeloverwhelmed trying to manage everything.

Still another issue is presented with regard to a user's ability to usetheir mobile terminal efficiently, such as in conditions where directcommunications with the user's assigned cellular communication may beunavailable or undesirable.

What is needed is a solution to the problem of diminished user enjoymentof the various devices and corresponding content that a user may enjoydue to the complications of trying to manage content and interface witha variety of different devices that are not necessarily compatible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods and apparatus for multimediacommunications with different user terminals, delivering multimediainformation to multiple user terminals concurrently, dynamically, andefficiently.

According to one aspect, methods and apparatus for efficiently directingcommunications are disclosed. On example entails receiving, from amobile terminal, a communication directed to a cellular communicationnetwork, the communication being received in an alternative channel thatdiffers from a channel of the cellular communication network. Thecommunication is then converted for a relayed communication to thecellular communication network on behalf of the mobile terminal, therelayed communication being made through the cellular communicationnetwork.

According to another aspect, directing a television display from amobile terminal such as a cellular phone is provided. This may entailreceiving video content originated from the mobile terminal through acellular communications channel, recognizing that the video content hasa display destination of the television, configuring the video contentfor display on the television, and directing the television to displaythe video content at a predetermined tunable channel upon recognitionthat the received video content originates from the mobile terminal andhas the display destination of the television. In addition, thecommunication between a mobile terminal and a television may bebidirectional.

According to another aspect, conversion and routing of content todevices that employ differing communication protocols is provided. Thismay entail receiving a multimedia content item originated from a sourcelocated outside a home location and destined for a destination devicelocated within the home location, determining a communications protocol,a signal format and an address for the destination device, convertingthe first multimedia content item for reproduction by the destinationdevice according to the determined signal format, and routing theconverted multimedia content item to the destination device using thedetermined address and communications protocol. A plurality of userterminals may be served concurrently according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

According to another aspect, bidirectional conversion and routing ofcontent to differing devices is provided. This may entail receiving afirst multimedia content item originated from a first device locatedoutside a home location and destined for a second device located withinthe home location, converting the first multimedia content item forreproduction by the second device and routing the first convertedmultimedia content item to the second device, receiving a secondmultimedia content item originated from a third device located withinthe home location and destined for a fourth device located outside thehome location, and converting the second multimedia content item forreproduction by the fourth device and routing the second convertedmultimedia content item to the fourth device. The third device can alsobe the second device and the fourth device can also be the first device.

According to another aspect, remotely receiving and accommodatingcompletion of multimedia content requests from a plurality of contentsources is provided. This may entail receiving a request to order accessto a first multimedia content item and a second multimedia content item,wherein the request is received through a cellular communication with auser initiating the request using a mobile terminal, identifying a firstsource corresponding to the first multimedia content item and a secondsource corresponding to the second multimedia content item, wherein thefirst source and the second source implement different communicationsprotocols, separately initiating communications with the first sourceand the second source using the different communications protocols tofulfill the request to order access to the first multimedia content itemand the second multimedia content item, receiving the first multimediacontent item and the second multimedia content item from the firstsource and the second source; and converting the first multimediacontent item and the second multimedia content item for reproduction bya destination device and routing the converted multimedia content itemsto the destination device.

According to another aspect, a method for optimizing the delivery ofcontent that is commonly requested by a plurality of users in aparticular location is provided. This may entail monitoring networkcontent requested by users corresponding to the particular location,receiving a request for a particular content item from a given user inthe particular location, wherein the particular content item isordinarily served from a location outside the particular location,determining that the particular content item is locally applicable wherethe particular content item is also requested by and converted for otherusers in the particular location, and concurrently serving theparticular content item to the given user and the other users using aserver that is logically proximate to users in the particular location,in lieu of separately serving the particular content item to the givenuser and the other users from locations outside the particular location.

The present invention can be embodied in various forms, includingbusiness processes, computer implemented methods, computer programproducts, computer Systems and networks, user interfaces, applicationprogramming interfaces, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other more detailed and specific features of the presentinvention are more fully disclosed in the following specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for optimized deliveryof Internet content to users.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process fordetermining locally applicable content for optimized content delivery.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a system for facilitating securereceipt and satisfaction of an action request such as a bill payment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an action requestprocess.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a system for providing itemstatus updates.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a system for receiving anddelivering a status update for multiple items.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for providing a diapercondition update.

FIG. 8 is a block and event diagram illustrating the provision oflocally applicable Internet content to a user in relation to a statusupdate, and secure receipt and satisfaction of an action request relatedto the same.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system inwhich mobile terminal signal conversion may reside.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a mobile terminalsignal conversion module.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating another example of a mobileterminal signal conversion module.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a processincluding mobile terminal signal conversion.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of a systemin which mobile terminal signal conversion may reside.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating still another example of asystem in which mobile terminal signal conversion may reside.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating examples of mobile terminalsignal conversion applications.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a control system ofmultimedia communications of different user terminals.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of directing atelevision to display content using signals received from a remotelocation through a cellular communications network.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of converting androuting multimedia content to different terminals.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of bidirectionaloperation involving transmitting and routing multimedia content into andout of the home.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of receiving andaccommodating completion of multimedia content requests corresponding todifferent sources.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram illustrating the architecture of anexample of a system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating an example of Center ControlServer Modules in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wirelesscommunication structure of a system in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIGS. 24A-B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of anauthentication process in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 24C is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an NFCcommunication system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating an Account Management Server andcorresponding functionality.

FIGS. 26 and 27 are functional block diagrams illustrating processes inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 28 is an event diagram illustrating an example of information flowin accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 29 illustrates an example of a system that facilitates efficientcommunication access by a mobile terminal.

FIG. 30 illustrates an example of a system wherein a modified WIFIaccess point provides a relay point for a mobile terminal.

FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram illustrating a mobile terminal such as acellular phone that is equipped to interface with a wind-poweredalternative energy generation device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousdetails are set forth, such as flowcharts and system configurations, inorder to provide an understanding of one or more embodiments of thepresent invention. However, it is and will be apparent to one skilled inthe art that these specific details are not required in order topractice the present invention.

Internet content is requested and accessed by cellular users incorrelation with their determined location. Provision of Internetcontent is customized according to location, and provided in a series oflocally customized networks. A given local network includes serversconfigured to include content believed appropriate for its location. Thedelivery of content is made from a particular local network configuredas such, to a user's cellular phone through the local base station.

For example, information about Hollywood may be accessed throughcellular network base station(s) in the Hollywood area, when thecellular user is detected as being proximate to the Hollywood area.These base stations deliver Internet content that is relevant to thearea, such as web sites about film and movie stars. This Internetcontent is stored in servers that the base stations covering the areacan access conveniently to provide faster and more efficienttransmission to the cellular users in the service area.

Optimizing the location of the Internet content for the wireless networkusers enables an optimum data flow for cellular users to access richinformation and data of all kinds from the Internet.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system 100 configured toprovide Internet content delivery in accordance with the presentinvention. The basic elements of the system 100 are the User Equipment(UE) 110, the Radio Access Network (RAN) 120, the Core Cellular Network(CCN) 130, the External Network (EN) 140, and the Local CustomizedNetwork (LCN) 150.

The UE 110 is a cellular phone configured to communicate with basestation(s) of the RAN 120. Although the UE 110 is preferably a cellularphone, it should be understood that a variety of devices may be equippedwith same communication functionality. Other examples of the UE 110include a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Set Top Box, Kiosk, or anypersonal computing device configured to include the wirelesscommunication capability.

The RAN 120 and CCN 130 preferably implement conventional elements of acellular network and are described further as follows. The RAN 120includes Base Station and Radio Network Controller (RNC) elements. TheBase Station provides resource management and provides an interface thatconverts the data flow between the UE 110 and RNC. The RNC controlsradio resources for the Base Stations to which it is connected, and alsomanages connections to the UE 110.

The CCN 130 is connected with the EN 140. The most notable examples ofthe EN 140 can be grouped into two kinds: Circuit Switched (CS) 142networks and Packet Switched (PS) 144 networks. The CS 142 networkprovides circuit-switched connections for circuit-switched services,such as telephony and ISDN. The PS 144 network provides connections forpackage data services. The Internet is a significant and notableapplication of a PS network.

The CCN 130 comprises MSC/VLR, GMSC, HLR, SGSN and GGSN elements. TheHLR (Home Location Register) is a database that stores information suchas user service profiles. The service profile includes informationincluding allowed services, roaming areas, forwarding numbers and thelike. The HLR stores the UE 110 location to accommodate that routing ofcalls and other information to the UE 110.

The MSC/VLR (Mobile Services Switching Center and Visitor LocationRegister) respectively provide switch operations and a database for theUE in its current location for Circuit Switch (CS) services. The VLRstores the user's service profile, as well as more precise informationon the UE's location within the serving system. CS connections gothrough the GMSC (Gateway MSC), which is the switch at the point ofconnection to the external CS network.

The SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Support Node)functionality is similar to that of MSC/VLR but is typically used forPacket Switch (PS) service. PS connections go through the GGSN (GatewayGPRS Support Node).

The LCN 150 comprises one or more computing devices configured toinclude memory, processing capability, and interfaces to provide thefunctionality described herein. The LCN 150 includes local servers thatare configured to provide custom Internet content. The LCN 150 is alsoconfigured to include a content access monitoring module, which monitorsInternet access and determines content applicable to the designatedlocation of the LCN 150.

The LCN 150 thus performs monitoring and caching related to locallyapplicable content. With regard to the monitoring functionality, themonitoring includes local access, which determines which content usersin the location are accessing. With regard to the caching functionality,the LCN 150 maintains a cache of locally applicable Internet content,which includes refreshing to add new content and remove stale content asdetermined by information received from the monitoring functionality.

One technique for determining whether content is locally applicable ismeasuring access frequency. If many users in the location are determinedto be accessing particular Internet content, then that particularInternet content is determined to be locally applicable and is includedin the cache during the next update.

In addition to monitoring and caching locally applicable content, theLCN 150 is configured to be logically proximate to the base station(s)of the cellular network at the particular location. In one example,logical proximity is carried out by having the LCN 150 physicallyproximate to the relevant base station(s), such as in the samegeographical area. For example, the LCN 150 may be located in ametropolitan area or within an area the covers certain zip code(s) of ametropolitan area. Logical proximity may alternatively be carried outwithout requiring physical proximity. This, for example, may be done byproviding dedicated resources including a high bandwidth connectionbetween the LCN 150 and the local users. In this example, the LCN 150 isconfigured to deliver locally applicable content more efficiently andrapidly because of the dedicated resources, without necessarilyrequiring physical proximity.

According to another aspect, to further increase efficiency, the locallyapplicable content for a given LCN is organized in a layeredarchitecture. A “first layer” of content is considered to be the contentthat has the highest local applicability. Additional layers are alsoprovided upon the first layer, with succeeding layers progressivelycovering larger geographical areas (i.e., progressively larger numbersof base stations). According to one aspect, the layering involvescommunication with neighboring LCNs covering increasing areas, todetermine the content that is locally applicable for the additionallevels. Thus, for example, a first layer corresponds to locallyapplicable content at a first level of granularity (e.g., asmonitored/determined only for the location of the LCN or a small localgroup of LCNs), a second layer corresponds to locally applicable contentat a second level of granularity (e.g., the logical “AND” orintersection of content that is frequently accessed across a larger areaas determined by the monitoring of access for several LCNs in thedefined larger area, and so on.

The operation of the system to update the LCN accordingly is describedas follows, with concurrent reference to FIG. 1 and the flow diagram ofFIG. 2. The process commences by monitoring 202 Internet contentaccessed by users for a current location. This is done by monitoring thegateway of the connection between the CCN 140 and PS 144 networks totrack the Internet content accessed by the cellular users.

It is noted that the monitored content may have two useful purposes. Oneis to accommodate the delivery of locally applicable content, which maybe determined by frequency of access for the given location. Another isto allow the providers of content (e.g., merchants or other commercialentities) to receive an indication which content is locally applicable.This allows the providers of content to assist or participate further indetermining what is locally applicable. For example, a merchant providedwith an indication of local applicability for certain content may wishto make advertisements, coupons, or the like available to the users inthat domain.

In conjunction with this monitoring 202, determination(s) 204 of thebase station(s) from which requests for the Internet content are made.This may be performed by checking the VLR and HLR to discover the basestations from which the requests for the Internet content are sent fromthrough. It is noted that base station discovery is just one way thatphysical location may be determined. Other examples include but are notlimited to using GPS, zip code, telephone number, and IP addressinformation to make the determinations.

The next step comprises determining 206 locally applicable content basedupon the monitoring 202 and determination(s) 204 of the base station(s).Determination of local applicability is performed by determining accessfrequency. Alternatively, local applicability may be determined bycomparing the location of the requesting user (base station) to alocation that is identified in association with the requested content.

Then, for the current (e.g., first) layer, the content is loaded 208 inservers that are logically proximate to users for the given location.This may be done by placing the current (e.g., first) layer server(s)loaded with the Internet content and/or other information/data toachieve an optimum and faster data transmission for the cellular usersto access the data stored in the servers through the base stations. Forexample, the servers can be placed logically close to the base stationthrough which the cellular users access the data stored in theserver(s).

The process iterates through as many layers as desired. If it isdetermined 210 that additional layers are to be updated, then steps202-208 are performed to load the next 212 (e.g., second) layerserver(s) with locally applicable content. As described, this preferablyentails a broader geographical area as the layers increase. The processcontinues until it is determined 210 that no more layers need to bedetermined and loaded. The number of layers in a given system will varyaccording to application, and as desired. Layering will typicallyinvolve a trade-off between maximizing locally available content and theprocessing resources required to generate and manage layers forprogressively broader areas.

The content that is loaded into the base station(s) may be refreshed 214on any desired schedule or trigger. For a refresh operation, the processdescribed above repeats, starting again with the first layer. Contentthat is stale or otherwise determined to no longer be locally applicablemay be removed, and of course new content may be added during a refreshcycle.

Additional servers may be added vertically and/or horizontally asdesired. Vertically means that servers may be added at a given physicallocation to cover first, second, third, etc. layers. Horizontally refersto adding different sets of servers corresponding to different locations(i.e., one set for the first layer, a second set for the second layer,and so on).

A regular schedule or certain amount of activity can be used to triggera refresh of the layering. The Internet content in the LCN 150 serversis modified according to the updated findings on the requests for theInternet content sent from the base stations. The Internet contentstored in the servers is refreshed at a proper time, such as when theservers are not overwhelmed by the users accessing the contents.

The servers are thus loaded with the information for broadcast and/ormulticast and/or any data to be accessed by the cellular users for anoptimum transmission to the users in service areas.

The locally applicable content may be sent and delivered upon request tothe users. Examples of communication pathways for sending the locallyapplicable Internet content include the relatively direct pathwaythrough the RAN 120, the pathway through the CCN 130 and then the RAN120, or others.

A variety of techniques may be used to implement the locally applicablecontent cached by the LCN 150 in conjunction with requests for Internetcontent by UE 110 (or other device) users. In one example, the UE 110request for Internet content prompts an initial check for content in thelocally applicable content, followed by conventional Internet accessshould the content prove to be absent from the locally applicablecontent that is currently cached. Additionally, based upon the layeredapproach described above, the first attempt to satisfy the request maybe made from the first layer, followed by the second layer, and so on.The number of layers searched to respond to a particular request mayvary as desired. When the number of layers designated to be searched forthe current request is exhausted, conventional Internet access is usedto retrieve content related to the request.

Various cache management and network optimization techniques may be usedto manage the locally applicable content. For example, fully associative(FA), direct mapped (DM), and set associative (SA) mechanisms areexamples of techniques that can be used to determine where a specificcontent can be stored on the server. Additionally, techniques to ensureblock validity and to manage cache hits and misses can also be used.Random, LRU (Least Recently Used) and FIFO (First In First Out) blockreplacement schemes are among those that can be used to manage theblocks in the cache.

According to another aspect, the present invention facilitates asystematical solution for mobile payment (or the communication of otherinformation, as well as the receipt of information such as alerts).Preferably, this aspect of the present invention implements a cellularnetwork, a wireless personal area network (WPAN) and wirelessidentification technology. Various technologies may be used for thesecomponents, including but not limited to 3G technology for the cellularnetwork; Zigbee, Bluetooth, or UWB technologies for the WPAN; and RFID(e.g., NFC) for the wireless identification technology.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a system 300 that implements thisaspect of the present invention. The system 300 includes a userequipment (e.g., cellular phone, PDA, etc.) 310 and wireless HUB 320,which is connected to servers 330 through a network 340, such as theInternet.

The wireless HUB (WHUB) 320 may be located in a public or privatelocation. For a public location, the WHUB 320 is preferably housed in akiosk. The kiosk may be located on a street, or in an airport, shoppingmall, or any location that is perceived as convenient and likely toinclude user traffic. For private locations, the WHUB 320 is preferablyconfigured for usage in locations like homes or hotel rooms. In theseenvironments, the WHUB 320 may be provided in a smaller device such aspart of a Set Top Box (STB).

The handset 310 is equipped with a tag that provides a unique identifierthat can be wirelessly communicated to the WHUB 320. A preferred tag isa Near Field Communication (NFC) tag 312. NFC provides short-rangewireless connectivity that uses magnetic field induction to enablecommunication between the devices. It has a short range of a fewcentimeters, which is believed to be advantageous for applications ofthis aspect of the present invention. Although NFC is preferred, RFID orother substitutes may also be provided. The handset 310 also includes aWPAN transceiver 314, which allows additional communication channelbetween the handset and the WHUB 320.

The wireless WHUB 320 is similarly equipped with an NFC reader 322, aWPAN transceiver 324 and a network adaptor 326. The NFC technologyaccommodates secure and automatic authentication and data exchangebetween the NFC tag and NFC reader. According to this aspect of thepresent invention, the NFC is uniquely associated with other informationthat allows the appropriate action (payment, alert, etc.) to take place.For example, where the system is being used to accommodate mobilepayment, the RFID tag is associated with the user's bank account.Further, once the device is authenticated through the unique identifier,a second secure communication channel with more capabilities isestablished between the handset 310 and WHUB 320. This allows the actionrequest and related communications to be reliably transmitted betweenthe two devices.

Accordingly, once the NFC based authentication is accomplished, a securewireless connection between the handset 310 and WHUB 320 is established.This communication can implement the WPAN transceiver, which has ahigher data rate and longer operational range compared to NFC. Thesecure communication allows the exchange of additional informationrelated to the action, such as price and credit card information for apurchase request and corresponding payment scenario, to be sent betweenthe handset 310 and the WHUB 320. The secure communication can beimplemented by hardware (e.g., a dedicated hardware chipset) andsoftware (e.g., data encryption algorithm).

The WHUB 320 can also exchange data with other WPAN devices 350. It maybe useful for the WHUB 320 to communicate with these devices 340 toexchange information related to the action. For example, the WHUB 320may collect water usage information from a water meter equipped with theWPAN device 340 functionality. This data may be stored locally by theWHUB 320, or may be transmitted to the appropriate server 330 throughthe network connection 350. The data does not necessarily need to becollected by the WHUB 320 concurrently with the user-requested action.For example, the acquisition and transmission of water usage informationmay occur periodically, and separate from the user's request to make acorresponding payment.

It is also noted that the WHUB 320 may optionally be configured with awireless communication capability such as that provided in a cellularphone. The WHUB 320 is thus configurable to operate with a system thatdelivers locally applicable Internet content as described above inconnection with FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 further illustrates and provides an example of a payment process400 in accordance with this aspect of the present invention. The process400 initiates with an authentication 402 process that accommodatesrecognition and identification of the handset by the wireless WHUB viathe NFC tag.

The communication through the separate secure communication channel(e.g., WPAN) is then established. The WPAN functionality is used tocommunicate between the handset and the WHUB, so that content related toa requested action may be securely exchanged. In this example, therequested action is a purchase request 404.

It should be noted that the action may or may not immediately followauthentication 402. For example, the cellular phone may be configured toinclude browsing capability, which allows that interface of the cellularphone to be used to review items prior to making a purchase request.

Various purchase types may be made with the purchase request. Examplesmay include a physical item that is separately shipped to an address, adownload that is made available immediately, possibly to the cellularphone, a service, etc.

Internet content may be accessed by the cellular phone in associationwith an action request. One example of providing content to the cellularphone may be the locally applicable Internet content as described abovein connection with FIGS. 1-2. Also, the cellular phone may accessInternet content through channels other than through the WHUB.

It is also noted that a purchase request is just one form of an actionthat may be carried out. Actions include but are not limited to billpayment, populating an account with funds, online shopping transactions,and others.

The process of authentication may be based upon a Tag ID and password.The Tag ID and password are sent 406 to the authentication server, whichthen returns a notification 408 confirming authentication. Preferably,this authentication indicates whether the individual is who he or sheclaims to be, but does not address the access rights of the individual.The authentication server may reside within or outside the WHUB.

As necessary, additional information may also be required in associationwith a requested action. For example, account identification informationor passwords to access an online account may be required by an externalserver. In these circumstances, the external server sends a request tothe WHUB for the information. The WHUB may store such information andrespond to such a request. Alternatively, the WHUB may further exchangeinformation with the user (through the handset), in order to obtain theadditional information requested by the external server.

In connection with the purchase request 404, a payment request 410 ismade between the WHUB and external server through the networkconnection. The payment request 410 allows the user to complete thetransaction related to the purchase request 404. To accommodate asatisfactory completion of the payment request, the server correspondswith a payment gateway, and a resolution 412 indicating whether thepayment request succeeds or fails follows.

Upon an indication of a successful payment request, the WHUB receives414 a receipt or confirmation number from the external server relatingto the requested action, and passes 416 that and/or related informationto the handset confirming completion of the action. This may be areceipt, confirmation numbers, coupon codes, or the like.

According to still another aspect, the present invention provides forwireless management of tasks and corresponding alerts. One such task isdiaper management, which is described in detail as follows.

This aspect of the present invention accommodates task management basedupon wireless delivery of alerts to overcome the problem of estimatingwhen the task requires completion. These alert based tasks include butare not limited to diaper management. For example, home securitymonitoring may also be accommodated.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a diaper management system 510according to the present invention. The diaper management system 500includes a diaper condition sensing module 510 and a centralreceiver/controller (CRC) 520. The CRC 520 operates on a conventionalprocessing platform, and is configured to communicate wirelessly withthe diaper condition sensing module 510. The CRC 520 also includes anetwork interface. The wireless and/or network interface accommodate thetransmission of appropriate alerts to caregivers.

The diaper condition sensing module 510 includes a sensor 512 and atransmitter 514. The sensor 512 is configured to monitor one or more ofthe following conditions, whose results indicate whether the diaper iswet or not:

1. The weight of the diaper—urine or feces make the diaper heavier thana dry and clean diaper;

2. Electric conduction of urine;

3. Chemical properties of urine—volatilized air including volatile acidor ammonia, pH, starch enzymes, ketone bodies, and/or urobilinogen mayall be detected and analyzed to determine the presence of urine;

4. Feces: the solid waste material; the bilirubin, or stercobilinogensin the feces; the specific food decomposed material including starch,fat, plant fiber, muscle fiber and so on; and/or

5. Any other elements, features, characteristics, and reflections of theunwanted on babies' diapers.

The sensor 512 triggers the transmitter 514 to establish a wirelesscommunication channel between itself and the CRC 520. A signal is sentby the transmitter 514 to inform the CRC 520 that the diaper is wet.This wireless communication channel preferably uses wirelesstechnologies such as UWB, Bluetooth, RFID, Spread Spectrum, or otherconventional wireless communication technologies.

Each sensor 512 preferably has a unique ID. Multiple access mechanisms,such as TDMA, CDMA, FDMA, or other conventional approaches, may also beapplied to allow the central receiver to communicate with multiplesensors at the same resource. It is believed that Zigbee/Bluetooth maybe useful for many applications in light of the competing demands ofworking range, data rate and cost.

After the CRC 520 receives the signal, the receiver triggers sound,light, text and/or other indications of the status of the diaper. Theseindications may be variously displayed, broadcasted, reflected, etc.through speakers, telephones, pagers, beepers, computers, and so on toinform the caregiver(s) so that they can remedy the situation.

The diaper condition sensing module 510 may be variously provided. Oneexample connects to the diaper using a probe that measures for desiredcriteria as described above and as shown in FIG. 5.

Another example provides the diaper condition sensing module 510 withinthe diaper. In this example, the sensor 512 also includes interfaces(probes) for measuring the desired criteria, within the confines of thediaper. The transmitter 514 may use various communication techniques asdescribed above. For an RFID embodiment, the function may be provided bycausing the circuit loop of the RFID tag to transition from open toclose when the diaper condition (e.g., wet) is detected by the sensor,which automatically causes the ID Tag to be sensed by the tag reader ofthe CRC.

Still further, in this example the diaper condition sensing module 510may be placed within a diaper and reused. Diapers may be configured withpouches or the like to allow the placement of the diaper conditionsensing module 510. In another alternative, the diaper condition sensingmodule 510 is manufactured and sold as an integrated part of eachdiaper, so that caregivers do not have to be concerned about theplacement of the module 510 each time a diaper is changed.

In addition to assisting a caregiver with regard to an individualchild's diaper, a diaper management system may be configured to managethe diapers for groups of children, such as a pre-school class or a daycare facility where many children may potentially wear diapers. Anexample of such a system 600 is shown in FIG. 6. The CRC 620 isconfigured to distinguish children in need of new diapers from thosethat are not and respectively sends messages to appropriate caregivers.To carry out this functionality, the CRC 620 is equipped with a databasethat associates the unique identifier corresponding to each diapercondition sensing module 610 a-g to at least one contact party.Alternative communication pathways (phone, e-mail, etc.), multiplecontacts (caregiver#1, caregiver#2), and various other information maybe associated to a given diaper condition sensing module 610 a-i in thedatabase.

In addition to providing a status alert about the condition of thediaper, the CRC 620 also determines the location of the diaper by usingwireless location techniques, including but not limited to Angle ofArrival, Time of Arrival, and Received Signal Strength Indication. Thisallows the option of also giving the designated caregiver informationabout the location of the child having the soiled diaper.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 700 for sending acaregiver alert according to a diaper condition in accordance with thepresent invention. The process 700 commences with the DCSM sensormonitoring 702 the diaper condition. When the diaper condition changes,such as when it is wet, the DCSM sensor detects the updated condition ofthe diaper. When this occurs, the DCSM transmitter sends 704 the diapercondition update to the CRC. The CRC receives 706 the update andcorresponding indications. Many conditions may be updated and the DCSMand CRC are configured to communicate them accordingly. The CRC, onceprovided with the update, proceeds to estimate the location of the(e.g., wet) diaper. The DCSM sends an ID corresponding to the update,which identifies the diaper/child. The CRC queries its database and thusmatches 708 the ID corresponding to the update to tailor caregiveralert(s). These alerts are then sent 710 to the caregiver(s)accordingly.

In the situation where there are multiple children/diapers beingmonitored, the CRC provided alert may be to a PC having a display screenwith a map of the room(s) and the estimated location of the wet diaper.Other CRC provided alerts may merely notify additional caregiver(s) asto the status of the diaper, without the location, so that theadditional caregiver(s) may be apprised of the status. The CRC may alsopoll the DCSM after a given period of time to ensure that the diapercondition has been updated. The CRC may be configured with configurationsettings that allow a caregiver to specify when and how they should beupdated. For example, if one caregiver is a baby sitter watching thechild while the parents are out, the parent may configure the CRC not tosend an alert to them when the diaper is first detected as being wet,but to wait until a certain period of time elapses. By contrast, thebaby-sitter alert may be provided immediately. If the certain period oftime passes and the diaper remains wet, the CRC can then notify theparent about the diaper condition, and the parent will realize that thediaper has not been changed.

FIG. 8 is a block and event diagram illustrating an example of a system800 that implements several aspects of the invention described above.The system 800 includes UE 802, WHUB 804, Authorization Server 806, BaseStation(s) 808, LCN Server(s) 810 and DCSM 812, which respectivelyprovide the functionality described above for the components having thesame names.

Local Merchant Server(s) 814 are also illustrated. As described inconnection with the provision of locally applicable Internet content,merchants are apprised as to the local applicability of content, such asmay be determined by frequency of access by users at a particularlocation corresponding to given base station(s). The WHUB 804, inaddition to being configured to facilitate secure receipt andperformance of an action such as a purchase request and correspondingpayment request, includes the CRC functionality that allows a responseto diaper condition update as provided by the DCSM 712 (the diaper beingjust one example of an item for which updates may be provided).

With the system 800 configured as such, the delivery of locallyapplicable Internet content may be provided in conjunction with thediaper update. Also, a local merchant (and corresponding server) 814that sells diapers is able to present a coupon or other incentive to theuser in conjunction with the determination that a diaper is wet by theDCSM 812. Moreover, in addition to having the capability of remindingthe caregiver about this, the WHUB 804 may keep a database of householdrequirements and inventories. For example, the WHUB 804 may monitor thenumber of diapers detected as being used. When the amount of useddiapers is close to the amount known to have been purchased previously,an additional alert may be presented to the user so that they are awarethat they need diapers and they can get the discount if they buy brand xbased upon the information provided by the local merchant.

The process for providing such functionality may be as follows. Basedupon historical activity relating to access of locally applicableInternet content, as well as whatever merchant participation is desiredin conjunction with the system 800, the local merchant's information iscached 852 at the relevant LCN Server(s). A wet diaper is detected 854by the DCSM 812 and this information is transmitted to the WHUB 804. TheWHUB 804, managing the diaper inventory for the household, determinesthat the inventory of diapers is low, and thus sends 856 a purchasealert through the Base Station 808 requesting information related to thecurrent need. In response to this, the LCN Server(s) 810 determine thatthe local merchant information is relevant to the current need, and thusretrieve 858 and send 860 the cached local merchant information to theWHUB 804.

In conjunction with the above exchange of information, alerts of boththe diaper condition and the low diaper inventory may be provided andretained for user review. When the user is ready to make a purchase,this may be accommodated via the WHUB 804. This purchase request may bemade by directly interfacing with the WHUB 804, or by using the UE 802in the fashion described above. The latter option is shown. There, theUE 802 sends 862 its Tag ID and purchase request to the WHUB 804. This,of course, may follow some browsing activity prior to the purchaserequest, so as to review the possible purchase options. Theauthentication may be as described above, based upon a Tag ID andpassword. The Tag ID and password are sent 864 to the authenticationserver, which returns a notification 868 confirming authentication.

Once the authorization is obtained, payment is sent 868 to the LocalMerchant server 814 to complete the transaction, and the receipt,confirmation and other information may be fed back to the WHUB 804regarding the same. For physical product like diapers, the WHUB willhave provided (or the Local Merchant may already have) the shippingaddress. Additionally, if the Local Merchant is a provider of severalitems (such as a supermarket), then items may be accumulated prior tocompleting a purchase and/or making a shipment and/or making theproducts available for pick up by the user. The WHUB is preferablyconfigured with a shopping list that allows organization of periodiccumulative purchases to accommodate this functionality.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system 900with mobile terminal signal conversion.

Mobile terminal signal conversion accommodates displaying the high ratedata flow multimedia information available in a wireless communicationenvironment in an external device, which allows true realization andenjoyment of the benefits of the multimedia content.

In one example, the multimedia information is provided to a wirelessmobile terminal using so-called next generation cellular technology(i.e., 3G and 4G), which can be employed in transmitting multimediainformation (e.g., rich graphics, real-time audio/video). Because of therelatively small screen size and low quality ear phones, for manyapplications the mobile terminal cannot adequately reproduce the highquality multimedia information that can be communicated using nextgeneration technology with adequate clarity and satisfaction. Mobileterminal signal conversion makes usage of a separate multimedia displayterminal including but not limited to a monitor, television set,projector, or LCD display. These displays typically have video and audioreproduction capabilities that are superior to those found on mobileterminals. They also use a power supply that is separate from the mobileterminal.

Still referring to the system 900 illustrated in FIG. 9, multimediainformation may be provided by any number of service providers 902 a-band delivered through a network 904 to a base station 906 to ultimatelyaccommodate transmission of the multimedia information, among otherthings, to a cellular phone 908. This system 900 is provided by way ofexample, and it should be understood that any conventional orto-be-developed technology for delivering voice and/or data to mobileterminals may be provided. These wireless communication networks includebut are not limited to a cellular communications network or a wirelesslocal area network.

Also illustrated is a typical external display system 914. This may alsobe variously provided and may be digital or analog. Examples of digitalSystems include HDTV, LCD and plasma. Examples of analog Systems includetelevision sets that implement standards such as NTSC, PAL, SECAM, andanalog computer monitors (SVGA, VGA). The external display system 914does not have the size constraints of the display screen on the cellularphone 908 and is preferably powered independently.

In the illustrated embodiment, a mobile terminal signal conversionmodule (MTSCM) 912 resides within a separate housing 910, outside thecellular phone 908.

The functionality of the MTSCM 912 is now further described withconcurrent reference to FIG. 9 and the flow diagram of FIG. 12.

The MTSCM 912 processes signals to accommodate reproduction by anexternal device. Specifically, a multimedia signal is transmitted to thecellular phone 908 through the wireless communications network aspreviously described (step 1202). The multimedia signal may include avideo signal intended for reproduction by the cellular phone 908, usingthe cellular phone display screen. For ease of description, processingof a video signal is described, although it should be understood thatany multimedia signal or component thereof may be converted inaccordance with the present invention.

The cellular phone 908 is connected to the MTSCM 910. This may beaccommodated by a cable connection that interfaces the cellular phone908 to the MTSCM 912 housing 910. Through this connection, the MTSCM 912receives the video signal from the cellular phone 908 (step 1204). Thevideo signal as received may be configured to accommodate a videodisplay on the screen provided by the cellular phone 908. The cableconnection is an example of a wired connection interfacing the cellularphone 908 to the MTSCM 912. An alternative wired connection is a seatthat directly interfaces the two without a cable. A wireless connectionmay also be provided, although it may currently be less practical toprovide than the wired connection because of the potential for highthroughput rate requirements. The wireless connection may also implementany conventional known technology including but not limited to aBluetooth connection.

The MTSCM 912 processes the video signal to provide a converted videosignal that has a display format and/or signal power level appropriatefor an external display terminal 914 that is separate from the cellularphone 908 (step 1206). The display format and/or signal power level ofthe external display terminal 914 may be different from that of thecellular phone 908 but there may also be embodiments where the format isthe same. Even if the formats are the same, conversion of the signals toaccommodate display on the external display terminal 914 would still beimplemented to adjust the power level for driving the external display,and possibly to minimize throughput requirements. This signal conversionis described further with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, below.

Still referring to FIGS. 9 and 13, following signal conversion, theMTSCM 912 provides the converted video signal to the external displayterminal 914 to accommodate the corresponding video display on a screenprovided by the external display terminal 914 (step 1208). This may beaccommodated through a connection between the MTSCM 912 housing 910 andthe external display terminal 914 as shown.

As used herein, mobile terminal refers to typically handheld mobiledevices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants.Although these devices include an execution platform as well as inputand display capabilities, such devices are distinguished from personalcomputers, such as desktop or laptop computers, which are not designedfor convenient handheld usage.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an MTSCM 1000 inaccordance with the present invention. The MTSCM 1000 may be provided assoftware, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof.

Where the MTSCM 1000 is provided as software, it operates in the contextof an execution platform. That is, the MTSCM 1000 includes instructionsthat are stored in memory for execution by a processor. Any conventionalor to-be-developed execution platform may be used. The processor,memory, and related elements such as a power supply are well known andneed not be described herein to convey an understanding of theinvention. Additionally, FIG. 10 illustrates one modular breakdown forthe components of the MTSCM 1000. It should be understood that thedescribed functionality may alternatively be provided by an MTSCM havingfewer, greater, or differently named modules from those illustrated inthe figure.

Additionally, although modules as shown to reside in a common location,it is noted that the functionality may reside in separate components ofa system that includes a mobile terminal, an external monitor, and(optionally) an intermediate device housing the MTSCM and interfacingthe mobile terminal and external monitor. In other words, the overallfunctionality of the MTSCM may be separated such that portions of theoverall functionality are respectively provided by the mobile terminal,separate intermediate housing, and/or the external display device.

The MTSCM 1000 may also be provided in the form of a chipset, configuredfor inclusion in a mobile terminal, dedicated separate signal conversiondevice, or external display terminal, and to provide the describedmobile terminal signal conversion functionality.

The MTSCM 1000 includes a mobile terminal interface module 1002, asignal conversion module 1004, and an external device interface module1006.

The mobile terminal interface module 1002 accommodates receiving themultimedia signal from the mobile terminal. A conventional physicalinterface provides a connection between the MTSCM 1000 and the mobileterminal through which the signals flow to the MTSCM 1000. The mobileterminal interface module 1002 recognizes the multimedia signal andstores the signal for processing by the remaining modules. Buffering andthe like may be implemented to accommodate storage and signalprocessing, as described further below.

The signal conversion module 1004 is in communication with the mobileterminal interface module 1002 and thus accesses the received multimediasignal. The signal conversion module 1004 recognizes the multimediasignal format, and processes the multimedia signal to provide aconverted signal. The converted signal may have a format and a signalpower level that differs from the one used by the mobile terminal, asappropriate for one or more types of external devices to which the MTSCM1000 is connected. Various examples of the type of devices to which theMTSCM 1000 may be connected are illustrated and described in connectionwith FIG. 11, below.

The external device interface 1006 is in communication with the signalconversion module 1004 and thus accesses the converted signal. Theexternal device interface 1006 also allows connection to the external(e.g., display) device. The external device interface 1006 may provideboth the feeding of the converted signal to the external device, anddriving the external device. Alternatively, the external deviceinterface 1006 may merely feed the converted signal to the externaldevice, with the external device including internal elements for drivingits signal reproduction (e.g., display) facilities.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the MTSCM1100. The MTSCM 1100 includes additional detail regarding the signalconversion aspect, and illustrates examples of differing types ofexternal devices to which the MTSCM 1100 may provide converted signals.The illustration and corresponding description are provided by way ofexample. Although numerous connections are illustrated, it should beunderstood that the present invention may be practiced in the context ofproviding as few as one, and as many as all of the listed connections.It should also be understood that there may be additional examples thatare not listed herein, but which are encompassed by the teachingsdescribed herein.

The MTSCM 1100 includes an interface/buffer module 1102 that isanalogous to the previously described mobile terminal interface module.The buffer and interfacing are configured to accommodate signalprocessing by the remaining elements in support of the requirements andexpectations of users of the multimedia signal output (e.g., adequatebuffering and processing rate to provide real time audio/video). Themobile terminal video compression format may of course vary, butcurrently the most likely format is MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. Buffering andthroughput rate may also be provided as desired by the designer.Currently, it is believed that 200 Mb is an adequate buffer size,although buffers of 500 Mb or more may of course be provided.Additionally, a throughput rate of approximately 10 Gb/s will beadequate for many current Systems, but may be increased as demands andtechnology evolve.

The Video Compress Decoder 1104 a receives the multimedia signal. Themultimedia signal is typically provided in a compressed format toaccommodate increased signal transfer rates. An example of a compressionscheme is that provided by one of the MPEG standards (e.g., MPEG-1,MPEG-2, MPEG-4). The Video Compress Decoder 1104 a is configured toinclude the appropriate compression/decompression (CODEC) module toaccommodate decompression of the received multimedia signal. Forexample, where the compression scheme is MPEG, the Video CompressDecoder 1104 a includes an MPEG CODEC to accommodate processing of suchmultimedia signals.

As an alternative to provision of the Video Compress Decoder 1104 a inthe MTSCM 1100, the functionality may be provided within the cellularphone or other mobile terminal. However, this may be less practicalbecause of the high bandwidth that would be required between thecellular phone and the MTSCM 1100 to deliver the decompressed signal,and the corresponding likelihood of a larger buffer requirement for theMTSCM 1100.

The Video Compress Decoder 1104 a outputs a decompressed digitalmultimedia signal that is passed to the Digital/Analog Video Encoder(DAVE) 1104 b and/or the Digital/Digital Video Encoder (DDVE) 1104 c.The DAVE 1104 b is configured to prepare signals for analog externaldisplay terminals 1120, and the DDVE 1104 c is configured to preparesignals for digital external display terminals 1122. The DAVE 1104 b andDDVE 1104 c respectively receive the decompressed multimedia signal andconvert the signals to the format(s) and signal power level(s) requiredfor the terminals to which they interface.

Examples of formats used by analog display terminals 1120 includeS-video, RGBHV, RGBS, and EIA770.3 as illustrated. Similarly, the DDVE1104 c provides output using standards such as DVI, DVI-D, HDMI, andIEEE1394. The signals respectively provided by the DAVE 1104 b and DDVE1104 c are provided to the terminals through conventional interfaces1106 a-b. The DAVE 1104 b functionality may be embodied as a video cardthat is configured accordingly. Examples of video cards that may beconfigured to provide the described functionality include but are notlimited to the Diamond Stealth S60, ASUS V9400-X, or RADEON 7000.

Ultimately, the signals are used to provide a display on the externaldisplay, as required according to the particular type of display. Forexample, the video data stream may be a digital RGB signal whichrepresents the intensity of the red, green and blue light respectivelyat different position. This signal is converted to analog by a D/Aconverter. This converted analog signal is quantified to the voltage andformat required by the standard, such as the input of cathode-ray-tube(CRT) monitor. This standard video signal will drive a set of electronguns, which produce a controlled stream of electrons to display of red,green and blue light respectively on a CRT screen. This is but oneexample and the present invention is not limited to a particulartechnology (e.g., CRT) for the external display.

As described, in one embodiment the MTSCM may be independently housedseparately from both the mobile terminal and external display terminal,with respective connections to the other devices to provide a systemconfiguration that includes the three pieces of hardware (mobileterminal, conversion box, external display terminal). This configurationprovides the flexibility of allowing any standard mobile terminal and/ordisplay to be potentially interface with the MTSCM without imposingconstraints on the mobile terminal or external display terminalmanufacturers. A possible drawback to this configuration is thatadditional hardware is introduced into the system.

In lieu of the three component system, the MTSCM may be located ineither the mobile terminal or the external display. FIG. 13 is aschematic diagram illustrates an example of a system 1300 in which theMTSCM mobile terminal signal conversion may reside within the mobileterminal 1308. The components and functionality of the service providers1302 a,b network 1304 and base station 1306 for delivering multimediasignals to the mobile terminal 1308 is the same as for the analogouselements of FIG. 9 and need not be re-described. Similarly, the externaldisplay terminal 1314 may be any of the various types named above.

The MTSCM 1312 provides the same functionality described above. However,in contrast to residence in a separate housing, the MTSCM 1312 is acomponent of the mobile terminal 1308. A potential advantage of thissystem 1300 is that, again, any standard equipment can serve as anexternal display terminal 1314, without a constraint on the displaymanufacturer. Additionally, only a simple wired or wireless interface isrequired to connect the external display with the mobile terminal 1308.This means, for example, that the user will not be required to carry abulky conversion module in addition to their cellular phone.

A potential drawback to this system 1300 is that the execution platformof the mobile terminal 1308 may be designed to accommodate onlytraditional functionality, so for some Systems it may be challenging toadd the MTSCM functionality to the existing platform. Additionally, theMTSCM will consume power that may unduly exhaust the limited powersupply offered by the mobile terminal 1308 battery. It is useful forthis embodiment to provide power to the mobile terminal 1308 through thecable connection to the external display terminal 1314, but again thismay require modification to the mobile terminal 1308 as the existingcharger interface may be insufficient.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of a system1400, in which the MTSCM 1412 resides within the external displayterminal 1414. As with FIG. 13, the components and functionality of theservice providers 1402 a,b network 1404 and base station 1406 fordelivering multimedia signals to the mobile terminal 1408 is the same asfor the analogous elements of FIG. 9 and need not be re-described.

Here, the mobile terminal 1408 need only be connected directly to theexternal display terminal 1414. However, in lieu of having the MTSCM1412 functionality reside within the mobile terminal 1408, it is part ofthe external display terminal 1414. The power supply and executionplatform issues associated with placing the MTSCM 1414 in the mobileterminal are resolved with this system 1400, and any mobile terminal1408 can potentially be connected to any MTSCM-ready external displaywithout requiring modification, other than provision of an outputinterface. A potential drawback of this configuration is that it adds acomponent to the standard external display terminal, and correspondingcosts.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating examples of mobile terminalsignal conversion applications 1500 in accordance with the presentinvention. These applications 1500 are provided by way of example, togive the reader an understanding of the potential contexts in whichembodiments of the present invention may operate. The present inventionis not limited to the disclosed applications, nor are all potentialapplications required for any given embodiment.

The basic architecture for provision of the wireless communicationssignal and corresponding multimedia signal is as described above for theservice providers 1502 a-b, network 1504, base station 1506 and mobileterminal 1508. The MTSCM 1510 may be separate or reside in the mobileterminal 1508 or display terminal 1512. Examples of applications 1514where a larger screen and potentially superior audio may be enjoyedinclude video conference, HDTV, games, GPS, and video on demand.Additionally, embodiments of the present invention will accommodateenjoyment of full multimedia capability in locations 716 includingvehicles, airports, hotels and remote resorts. Thus, for example, thepresent invention accommodates usage inside a vehicle, a plane or anytype of transportation, enabling the passenger to browse the Internet,watch TV, play games, participate in a video conference or call, andwork on all sorts of software with full functionality.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a control system formultimedia communications between different user terminals.

According to one aspect of this embodiment, a converting server that isvariously positioned in network environments provides a routing functionand a connecting function, and functions bi-directionally. Accordingly,this aspect provides for the transmission and receipt of content andconverts such content in both directions depending upon the connecteddevices and corresponding protocols used by such devices.

According to another aspect of this embodiment, cellular televisionfunctionality is provided. Here, a television in form and functionalityalso includes cellular communication features as well as theabove-described conversion functionalities. Preferably, one or more“channels” corresponding to the cellular application are provided in thecellular television so that the content received in this fashion may beaccessed and viewed by a user in a fashion similar to that used foraccessing traditional television channels.

According to still another aspect, one or more embodiments of theinvention provide efficient integration for Internet, wireless networks,cable, DSL, satellite, and TV communications to enable communicationsamong potentially different user terminals. The user terminals includehome and office appliances (such as TV, computer) and wireless terminals(such as mobile phone, PDA). In a system configured according to thisaspect, a Management Center (MC) System receives, selects, converts,compresses, decompresses, and routs data to the user terminals. Variousexamples are presented and will be apparent to the ordinarily skilledartisan once instructed according to the teachings of this aspect. Byway of example, signals such as those from a fire alarm or theft sensorare sent through the MC System to a user's cell phone and/or 911 Center.Some processing functions may be performed by the MC System incombination with a user terminal and other MC Systems. In anotherexample, a user's phone call (wireless or wired) is routed to atelephone, mobile terminal, computer, and/or TV as designated by theuser.

The MC System functionality includes receipt, conversion andtransmission of content in two directions. It also includes facilitiesfor mapping and routing content to various connected devices and datastorage for storing content that is served locally or to remote devices.

Receiving, converting and transmitting multimedia content may beperformed in two directions using the MC System. For example, this mayinclude receiving and transmitting signals from cellular networks,Internet, PSTN, other Management Centers, as well as receiving andtransmitting signals from user terminals including televisions,monitors, diaper monitoring, a video camera, fire alarm, theft sensor,etc.

With regard to conversion, the MC System includes a converter modulewith routines for selecting, extracting, compressing, decompressing,adjusting data, and converting the data format and/or power lever and/ordata package size/format.

The MC System also includes a mapping table and a routing module. Themapping table is described further below. It matches phone numbers,cable ports, DSL ports, IP addresses, etc. The routing module is forrouting data to destinations through designated channels. The routingmodule accommodates routing the received data that is inbound from avariety of sources including but not limited to cable, broadcasttelevision and Internet. It also accommodates routing to a variety ofinterfaces found on receiving terminals, including but not limited toRS232, USB2.0, and video cable port. The routing module receives therelevant information concerning routing from the results of looking upthe same in the mapping table, and carries out the routing accordingly.

Finally, the MC System includes data storage such as a hard disk. Thisallows the MC System to store content to assist faster and moreefficient data receiving and transmission to user terminals. The MCSystem may also conveniently retain converted content (e.g., compressed,coded, decrypted, decompressed) for subsequent additional access. Thisconverted content may be provided internally or transmitted externallyfrom the MC System.

It is also noted that the MC System may include software and/or hardwarefor filtering and treating viruses, such as viruses that involve thecellular network and corresponding cellular communications. For example,the MC System may periodically or persistently check for virussignatures when content is being transmitted or received by the MCSystem. Virus screening processes may thus be applied to multimediacontent items in conjunction with their conversion, and at the samelocation (the domain of the MC System). This may be useful because virusscreening may be applied to multimedia content before and/or after it isconverted. Treatment may include blocking or quarantining viruses thatare detected, deleting virus data or files, and communicating thepossible presence of attacks to other MC Systems or external systems.

When a communication is inbound to the MC System, it may include a datapackage that identifies the destination device. This may be in the formof a unique device identifier that is associated with each devicemanaged by the MC System. The mapping table is queried for the presenceof the unique identifier. Once this is successfully performed,corresponding information regarding the processing of the communicationmay be automatically gathered from the mapping table.

Additionally, or alternatively, the MC System (and/or CHS) can obtainformatting, addressing, and other information by referencing portions ofthe received data package according to a predefined protocol. Forexample, information within the received data package may indicate theformat (e.g., TCP package in Internet) for transmission and the format(e.g., data package defined by WCDMA standard in 3G) for receiving, aswell as the destination address corresponding to the converted dataformat. The overhead information within the received data package caninform the MC/CHS regarding the next transmission protocol and matchedformat. That is, the data package received by the MC/CHS includes somedefined extra data besides the desired content data. This informationinforms the MC/CHS regarding the inbound data format transmissionprotocol, and also the outbound data format and the transmissionprotocol corresponding to the data format.

For example, if the data package contains the identifier DI₁ it isdetermined that the communication is intended for the main television inthe household. In a simple example, all communications to a given devicemay be required according to the same format and same address. Forexample, a regular video output may be directly connected via cablebetween a video output from the MC System to the video input of the maintelevision (e.g., by coaxial cable, component cables, HDMI cable). Withregard to this example, the MC System includes a regular output formaking the connection to the television.

There may also be network-based connections, such as to a personalcomputer (or home LAN router) or directly to a television equipped witha network interface card and related functionality. In these instancesthe address information (and corresponding entries in the mapping table)would include the network address of the particular device. The MCSystem is equipped with its own network interface card and correspondingoutput to engage in these communications. These and other communicationssuch as to a cellular phone via either the use of the cell phone numberor a direct local wireless communication may be made, again as indicatedin the mapping table.

There may also be situations where multiple different processes andcorresponding conversion and addressing need to be applied for a givendevice. For example, a television set may be connected to both a networkconnection and the video output of the MC System. As another example, acellular phone may have alternative communication capabilities as noted.In these circumstances, the mapping table may also include multipledifferent entries designating the address, signal format, etc.

Thus, the information in the mapping table may also be correlated toseveral processing category codes for a given device. For example,processing category code #1 for the television set may indicate that theinbound communication should be addressed, converted (if applicable) androuted to the television through the video output. This might be merelyfeeding conventional television signals to the television. On the otherhand, processing category code #2 for the television may indicate thatthe inbound communication should be addressed, converted and routedthrough the network connection. Still further, some special content mayrequire additional or different processing (e.g., conversion,decryption, etc.) as compared to other content. Additional processingcategory codes may allow such content to be processed appropriately. Theprocessing category code may (like the device identifier) be a numberthat is included in the data package.

The data package may also be variously provided to the MC System. In oneembodiment, the data package may be contained in a header area in packetdata sent to the MC System by the source. Still further, at times thedata package may itself contain information used in converting and/oraddressing the appropriate device. For example, the data package itselfmay contain the network address of the destination device in lieu oflooking for the same in the mapping table. As another example, all orpart of key information for decrypting content may also be provided inthe data package. As still another example, the data package may containa flag to track an indication as to whether a virus screening processhas completed successfully.

Devices that are intended to work with the MC System may also beequipped with software and/or hardware that allows them to insert anddeliver the appropriate information in communications with the MCSystem. For example, a cellular phone may be equipped with software thatprovides the appropriately configured data package in initiatingcommunications with the MC System that are directed to destinationdevices.

The MC System variously processes data depending upon correspondingdevices and purposes for the data. For example, the data received fromcellular networks are selected and then converted to be displayed onhome or office appliances with different types of display screens.Similarly, some content can be displayed more properly by mobile phonedisplays.

In addition, some data are also compressed and re-organized at the MCSystem so that they have certain data package sizes and formats formatching the requirements of the relevant transmission networks. Forexample, the signals sent from a wet diaper, fire alarm, and/or theftsensor may be transmitted to a user's cell phone or 911 Center. Thisinformation may be compressed before transmission over the wirelessnetwork, which allows increased efficiency when using the wirelesscommunication channel Additionally, security and encryption protocols(e.g., SSL) and error prevention protocols and coding schemes (e.g.,Huffman, Solomon, or Turbo LDPC coding) may be applied to ensure thatthe information that is transmitted remains secure and without error.

By way of example, this aspect of the invention may be applied to homeappliances. The home appliances (e.g., TV set, PC, Handset, Printer,PALM, camera, Headset, game controller, refrigerator, etc.) may alsofunction through a centralized HUB system (CHS). Such a HUB system ispreviously described in detail above. The CHS communicates with the MCSystem and/or Internet and/or other networks. The CHS can also be builtinto a cable modem, TV set top box, or other device. The signals, forexample, from a wet diaper, fire alarm, or theft sensor can also be sentfrom the CHS. Finally, it is noted that the CHS may perform thefunctions described for the MC System.

The commonly practiced wireless connection centralized by wirelessaccess point is based on WLAN technology, which is IP-orientedtechnology. Since the IP addresses may exhaust over time, each consumerelectronics item such as headset, game controller, etc. configured tohave an IP address is costly and fails to serve the user's needs well.One or more embodiments of the present invention offer two aspects inthis regard. First, an intelligent management system centered bytraditional connection equipment, such as TV set top box, cable modem,DSL modem or the like unites, manages, and optimizes the consumerelectronics' functions. Also provided is a non-IP based wirelessconnection among these consumer electronics devices.

As shown in FIG. 16, the CHS communicates with the Internet through ADSLor cable and cellular base stations through wireless connection. Theconsumer electronics items communicate with the CHS through wirelesschannels such as Bluetooth, UWB, NFC or wire line connection. CHS is thecenter of this wireless communication system.

A handset (e.g., cellular phone) can receive Internet data through CHSand/or MS instead of communicating with a cellular base station. Thiscommunication channel is more reliable, less costly, and offers improvedbandwidth compared to conventional connections between base station andthe cellular phone.

There may be a corresponding connection between the CHS and the cellularnetwork. This may implement a traditional wireless connection betweenthe CHS and a cellular base station, with the communicationsimplementing conventional wireless communications protocols. Anotherpossibility is a leased line or wireless line connecting the CHS to thecore cellular network. The CHS preferably includes a WiFi routerfunction as well as the ability to route addresses between IP andcellular telephone number. It also is able to report to the cellularnetwork with regard to the location of a particular user, so thatinformation designated for that particular user may be directed to theCHS accordingly (e.g., calls, content ordered by particular user viacellular phone, etc.). It also may include any necessary conversionfunctions. In addition to reporting the location of a user to thecellular network, the MC System (or CHS) may also report roaminginformation to other MC Systems (or CHS). This allows subsequentcommunications between users without involving the cellular network.That is, a first user may be located in the covered area for a first MCSystem, and a second user may be located in the covered area of a secondMC System. While this circumstance remains, communications between thefirst and second users via their mobile terminals may involve thewireless connections from the MC Systems (as well as the connectionbetween MC Systems, which may, for example, be an IP connection).

In addition, the information sent to the cellular phone can be deliveredto a TV for a better display in accordance with another aspect of thepresent invention. Furthermore, the communication between CHS and anoven with sensors and corresponding conditions can be variouslytriggered, such as through the detection of boiling water or thetemperature of the food in an oven. A signal to arouse the attention ofwhomever is cooking the food or boiling water is transmitted to the TV,acoustic system, cellular phone, computer, beeper, mobile terminal, PDA,etc.

Another example of the application of the invention is that a wirelesstransceiver can be installed in a child's diaper. When the diaper iswet, the communication between diaper and CHS is triggered.Corresponding signals will be delivered to TV, cellular, day carecenter, etc.

Internet content is one source of data transmitted to users' terminalsthrough the MC System. One aspect of this invention is the structuredlocation of the Content Server and/or MC Systems, as shown in the FIG.16.

As described in further detail above, a cache of locally applicablecontent caches particular Internet content that is determined to belocally applicable based upon the monitoring of the Internet contentaccessed by users from the particular location. This content may becontent that has also been converted as described herein. The particularInternet content is preferably cached at a local content storage placedwithin local Management Center. Alternatively, the particular Internetcontent is cached at Content Server which is placed logically proximateto two or more Management Centers sharing the Internet content. Logicalproximity may be variously carried out, such as through physicalproximity or by provision of dedicated bandwidth and resources. Requestsfor Internet content for the particular location may thus be served fromthe cache, to optimize delivery, where the cache contains the requestedcontent.

In addition, the caching of locally applicable Internet content may bemaintained on a layered basis, such that a first layer of localapplicability corresponds to Internet content requested by users in afirst geographical area in which the particular location resides, and atleast one succeeding layer of local applicability corresponds toInternet content requested by users in at least one succeedinggeographical area that encompasses and is larger than the firstgeographical area.

Merchants or other commercial entities may also provide some form ofaccess to information related to the locally applicable Internetcontent, with commercial incentives such as coupons or advertisementsbeing delivered to users based upon that information.

The logical proximity based on physical proximity or provision ofdedicated bandwidth and resources also applied to the locations of MCSystems and/or Content Servers. MC Systems and/or Content Servers arelocated according to the local service requirements, dedicated bandwidthand other resources, geographical and demographical situations, cost,etc. The MC Systems can also be structured and placed in layers asdescribed in the layered structure of Content Servers. The comparativepositioning of MC Systems and Content Servers are determined based onservice requirements, resources, costs, and monetary incentives.Importantly, the Management Centers and Internet Content Servers arestructured for efficient transmission of data and to avoid bottleneckproblems.

It is noted that this aspect is not limited to Internet content. The MCSystems and Content Servers may store content from various resources.

A variety of data transmission protocols may be used to transmitmultimedia content to the MC System, including from cellular networks(e.g., 3G), Internet, Service Providers, and from other MC Systems.

A set of transmitter(s) and/or receiver(s) for connection with externalresources is equipped at the MC System. The connection channels for datatransmission may include wired line connections (e.g., DSL, Fiber,Cable, DSL, least line, etc.) between the MC System and outside networks(e.g., Cellular Network, Internet, Service Provider networks).Additionally, wireless connections (e.g., WiMax, Satellitecommunications (e.g., VSAT system), traditional communications withcellular base stations, point-to-point or point-to-multipoint wirelessconnections) may provide the connection between the MC System andoutside networks. MC Systems may also connect, communicate, route, andrelay content among and between each other. The connections among MCSystems are structured by efficient data transmission, servicerequirement, cost, bandwidth and other resources availability, and therelationships with Internet Content Servers, Cellular Networks, localService Providers, and other MC Systems.

A variety of communications may also be applied for the communicationchannels between the MC System and the various local user terminals. Atthe user terminal side, the users use TV, computer, DSL modem, Cablemodem, WLAN access point, mobile terminals, and various sensors thatcommunicate with the MC System.

A set of transmitter(s) and/or receiver(s) are equipped for the datatransmission between the MC System and user terminals. Communicationchannels between the MC System and user terminals include the following:(1) direct connection using the available transmission port/standardsuch as USB, RS232, TV cable, Ethernet, Telephone line, etc.; (2)Wireless Personal Area Network such as UWB, Bluetooth, WLAN, etc.; (3)Long-range wireless connections such as WiMax, Satellite, e.g., VSAT, TVbroadcast, etc.; or (4) Wire-line connection such as DSL, Cable,Ethernet, etc.

The data transmission between an MC System and user terminals can beone-way or two-way. One-way data transmission includes data sent fromthe MC System to the user terminals and the data sent to the MC Systemfrom user terminals. For example, the MC System sends data to userterminals (e.g., advertisement broadcast to TVs, computers, mobileterminals, etc.). Similarly, the user terminals send data to the MCSystem (e.g., signals sent from a fire alarm to an MC System.). The datatransmitted between an MC System and a user terminal is preferablybidirectional. In this circumstance, transmitter and receiver at bothsides are equipped.

The operations on data processing and transmission at an MC System canbe shared with a plurality of user terminals and/or other MC Systems. Insome circumstances, some functions of the MC System described above canbe done by a user terminal so the MC System is omitted. One aspect ofthe invention is a TV or other display that is equipped to receive RFsignals sent from cellular base stations. The cellular televisiondemodulates, and/or compresses/decompresses data, and/or converts thesignals to the appropriate format before displaying the image/video. Theconversion and transmission provided with the television can also betwo-way. The cellular television with a video camera/microphone can alsorecord and extract the multimedia information, which can be transmittedto other users' terminals through cellular network or Internet. Thecellular television is equipped to extract and/or convert, and/orcompress, and modulate the multimedia information before sending it tothe cellular base station. The cellular television also preferably has aseparate channel for displaying multimedia information from the cellularnetwork or other networks beyond traditional TV programs. Users may alsouse the TV remote controller to dial telephone numbers like a telephonedial panel.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a process 1700 for directing atelevision to display content using signals received from a remotelocation through a cellular communications network. In one embodiment,the process is carried out within a television set that is equipped toreceive the signals wirelessly from a cellular base station and providethe corresponding conversion and direction to display the content on agiven channel In that regard, the housing of the television set includesconventional cellular phone technology for at least receiving (andpossibly sending, if desired) calls via a connection to a cellularnetwork. The television set is also equipped with processing capabilityfor carrying out the signal conversion requirements, as described indetail above regarding the MTSCM.

In an alternative embodiment, a set top box is configured to receive thewireless signal, and to output signals appropriately formatted for thetelevision. In still another embodiment, the MC System is equipped toreceive a wireless signal, and to perform the conversion and routing tothe television set. In either of these circumstances, the set top box orMC System is similarly equipped to provide the noted cellularcommunications capability and MTSCM functionality. It is also noted thatthere may be embodiments where the functionality is divided between theset top box, television set, MC System and/or CHS in various waysinvolving at least two and sometimes all three devices.

The process initiates upon receipt 1702 of video content through acellular communications channel. This communication may be received, forexample, at the initiation of a cellular phone user who wishes to sendthe content. The connection may, for example, be made using a regularcellular telephone call to a designated number corresponding to thetelevision. At this time, the content as sent from the remote cellularphone to the television will be formatted as required by the cellularnetwork. The MTSCM functionality converts such signals from the cellularnetwork and related format to the format used by the television (e.g.,SD or HD standards).

Where it is recognized 1704 that video content has the television as adisplay destination, the video content is then configured 1706 fordisplay according to the requirements of the television, for example asdescribed regarding the MTSCM functionality. Recognition 1704 that thecontent is destined for the television set may be presumed where adedicated number or known routing of signals to the television set at agiven interface is provided.

Finally, the television is directed 1708 to display the convertedcontent on a predetermined channel. This predetermined channel may, forexample, be a tunable channel that is otherwise unused for other formsof content. To view video content in this fashion, the user merely usesa channel button or the like to navigate to the appropriate channel, andthen the converted content is shown on the display screen of thetelevision. In the alternative where the set top box is used to providethe noted functionality, the tuning may be provided through a remotethat controls the set top box. A given channel on the set top box maycorrespond to the content received in this fashion. The output of theset top box provides the converted content through a conventionalconnection to the television such as an HDMI, component cable, S-videoor other connection.

Turning now to several other aspects of the present invention, FIGS.18-20 illustrate examples wherein the MC System converts and routescontent to particular devices.

According to a first aspect, the MC System is configured to convert androute multimedia content to a variety of different (e.g., household)devices, which require addressing and may include not only differentcommunications protocols, but also different formats. FIG. 18 is a flowdiagram illustrating a process 1800 of conversion and routing multimediacontent to different terminals.

The process 1800 initiates upon receipt 1802 of multimedia content froma source outside the home location, to be directed to a destinationdevice within the home location. The destination device may comprisedifferent devices having different formats and receiving signals throughdifferent communications protocols.

The MC System then determines 1804 the communications protocol, signalformat and address for the destination device. This, for example, may beperformed either by referring to the data package information, mappingtable information, or a combination thereof as described above.

The inbound multimedia content is then converted 1806 for reproductionby the destination device according to the determined signal format forthat device. Finally, the converted multimedia content is routed 1808 tothe destination device using the determined address and communicationsprotocol corresponding to the destination device.

According to another aspect, the MC System offers bidirectionalconversion, wherein content not only may be inbound to various differentdevices, but may also be communicated to various remote devices. Thisfunction may similarly be carried out using the various connectionsavailable with the MC System as well as the corresponding information inthe mapping table and data packages.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of bidirectionaloperation involving a first device transmitting inbound content to asecond device within the home governed by the MC System, and a thirddevice transmitting outbound content to a fourth device outside thehome.

The process 1900 entails receiving 1902 a first multimedia content itemoriginated from a first device located outside the home location anddestined for a second device within the home location. The firstmultimedia content item is then converted 1904 for reproduction androuted to the second device. Similarly, the second multimedia contentitem is received 1906 from the third device located within the homelocation and destined for a fourth device located outside the home. Thesecond multimedia content item is converted 1908 for reproduction by thefourth device and the converted multimedia content item is routed to thefourth device.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the MCSystem allows a user to remotely make orders for content using acellular phone, wherein the content may come from a variety of differentsources. FIG. 20 illustrates a process 2000 for receiving andaccommodating completion of multimedia content requests corresponding todifferent sources.

The process 2000 initiates by receiving 2002 from the cellular phoneuser requests access to first and second multimedia content items.Examples of requests may include individual content purchases, selectionof content previously purchases, selection of content that does not needto be purchased, and others. For example, the cellular phone may be usedto directly contact the MC System. Another way this may be done is byusing a cellular phone to communicate with the MC System withintervening communication occurring with the cellular base station. Thatis, with reference to FIG. 16, the cellular phone may be used tocommunicate with the cellular base station, and the cellular basestation may then communicate with the MC System using the variouscommunication channel options as shown. The first and second multimediacontent items may of course be ordered on separate occasions and maycorrespond to content available from completely different sources.

The MC System identifies 2004 a first source corresponding to a firstmultimedia content item as well as a second source corresponding to asecond multimedia content item. These sources may use any number ofdifferent communications protocols to carry out the delivery of contentto the home.

The MC System then separately initiates 2006 communications with thefirst and second sources using the different communications protocols tofulfill the requests to order access to the first and second multimediacontent items. The first and second multimedia content items are thenreceived 2008 by the MC System and converted for reproduction by thedestination device and routed accordingly (2010).

Various devices and various content sources may be applicable accordingto this embodiment. For example, an initial step may involve the usercommunicating with the MC/CHS using his cellular phone (e.g., directly,or through an intervening cellular base station). The user may then makevarious types of requests to the MC/CHS. For example, the MC/CHS may beinstructed to make a call to another user's cellular phone.Alternatively, the user may instruct the MC/CHS to obtain informationcorresponding to a request, such as current news stories based upon apreviously or currently submitted keyword (e.g., news regardingPresident's veto of a law). Corresponding format and addressinginformation is then provided to the MC/CHS. For example, the MC/CHS maybe instructed that the IP address of the user's PC is the destinationaddress for the requested cellular phone call, and the cable portaddress of the user's television may be the destination address for therequested news. Finally, the MC/CHS engages in appropriate conversionand routing to deliver the requested content accordingly. For example,the MC may communicate with the cellular network to find the other userto whom the cellular phone call is desired, and convert the receiveddata package defined as the cellular network to a TCP package, providingthe user's PC IP address as the destination address. Network protocolsmay then be used to transmit the converted data to the user's PC (e.g.,over the Internet (TCP/IP) or through a direct network connection). Withregard to the provision of the news corresponding to the search query,the MC/CHS may use the MC content layer structure to find the bestsource and route for the requested content. For example, it may seek thenews at a local Internet content server (which may be the MC Systemitself, as the MC System is configured to store content that may bevariously served as described herein). The MC System converts thecorresponding content to a television format and transmits it to thetelevision such as through a direct wired connection or a wirelessconnection (e.g., via UWB between the TV and CHS).

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method foroptimizing the delivery of content that is commonly requested by aplurality of users in a particular location is provided. This entailsmonitoring network content requested by users corresponding to theparticular location, receiving a request for a particular content itemfrom a given user in the particular location, wherein the particularcontent item is ordinarily served from a location outside the particularlocation, determining that the particular content item is also requestedby other users in the particular location, and concurrently serving theparticular content item to the given user and the other users using aserver that is logically proximate to users in the particular location,in lieu of separately serving the particular content item to the givenuser and the other users from locations outside the particular location.In one embodiment, the layered approach previously described is used tomake determinations as to whether content is locally applicable. At thatlocation, requested content may be monitored and determinations as towhether the content is commonly requested within the particular localitymay be made.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a system architecture in accordancewith the present invention. The system includes Center Control Server21200, which is connected to a wireless HUB 21320, Authentication Server21330, Location server 21340, Account Management Server 21250, and userterminal(s) 21460 through a network 21100, such as the Internet. Thewireless HUB 21320, along with Authentication Server 21330,authenticates user's identification through a short rangeElectromagnetic (EM) radiation and provides the user with access tosecure data communication with a wireless terminal such as a cellularphone or a PDA. The Center Control Server 21200, through variousfunctional modules, manages the data flow and coordinates the functionsof the servers and user terminals. User location information is sentfrom the Location Server 21340 and processed to initiate, accelerate,and optimize the flow of information and corresponding processes.

Various aspects described herein may be embodied as systems, methods orcomputer programs. Computer program embodiments may be stored on acomputer readable medium such as a magnetic disk, optical disk,non-volatile memory, or other tangible computer readable media. Suchcomputer programs variously include program instructions that areexecutable by a processor to perform operations comprising thosedescribed in detail herein.

One aspect of the invention implements a cellular network, a wirelesspersonal area network (WPAN) and wireless identification technology.Various technologies are applicable to this aspect of the invention,including but not limited to 3G technology for the cellular network;Zigbee, Bluetooth, or UWB technologies for the WPAN; and RFID (e.g.,NFC) for the wireless identification technology.

The present invention facilitates secure data transmission through thewireless HUB 21320. The wireless HUB 21320 first receives and recognizesa unique identifier corresponding to a mobile terminal through awireless connection. Once this authentication is processed, the wirelessHUB 21320 establishes a communication channel with the user terminal forsecure data transmission. The data is routed via the securecommunication channel to the Center Control Server 21200 and processedby the function modules.

FIG. 3 illustrates and provides a system process in accordance with thisaspect of the invention. In FIG. 3, the secure communication channel isseparate from the short range wireless connection used to receive theunique identifier in order to achieve a greater bandwidth.Alternatively, the authentication and data transmission upon thecompletion of the authentication can share a wireless communicationchannel.

The wireless HUB (WHUB) 21320 is located in a public or privatelocation. For a public location, the WHUB 21320 is preferably housed ina kiosk. The kiosk may be located on a street, or in an airport,shopping mall, or any location that is perceived as convenient andlikely to include user traffic. For private locations, the WHUB 21320 ispreferably configured for usage in locations like homes or hotel rooms.In these environments, the WHUB 21320 may be provided in a smallerdevice such as part of a Set Top Box (STB).

The handset 21310 is equipped with a tag that provides a uniqueidentifier that can be wirelessly communicated to the WHUB 21320. Apreferred tag is a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag 21312. NFCprovides short-range wireless connectivity via EM radiation that usesmagnetic field induction to enable communication between the devices. Ithas a short range of a few centimeters, which is believed to providesecurity advantages for applications of this aspect of the presentinvention. Although NFC is preferred, RFID or other substitutes can alsobe provided. The handset 21310 also includes a WPAN transceiver 21314,which allows an additional communication channel between the handset andthe WHUB.

The wireless WHUB 21320 is similarly equipped with an NFC reader 21322,a WPAN transceiver 21324 and a network adaptor 21326. The NFC technologyaccommodates secure and automatic authentication and data exchangebetween the NFC tag and NFC reader.

The process of authentication may be based upon a Tag ID and password21002. The Tag ID and password 21006 are sent to the authenticationserver, which then returns a notification 21012 confirmingauthentication. Preferably, this authentication indicates whether theindividual is who he or she claims to be, but does not address theaccess rights of the individual. The authentication server may residewithin or outside the WHUB 21320. The authentication processes arefurther illustrated in FIGS. 24A-B.

The communication through the separate secure communication channel(e.g., WPAN) is then established upon the completion of authentication.The WPAN functionality is used to communicate between the handset andthe WHUB, so that content related to a requested action may be securelyexchanged. In this example, the requested action is a purchase request21004.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the NFC is uniquelyassociated with other information that allows an appropriate action(payment, alert, etc.) to take place. For example, when the system isbeing used to accommodate mobile payment, the RFID tag can be associatedwith the user's bank account. Further, both the WHUB 21320 and wirelesshandset/terminal 21310 are authorized by the Authentication Server21330. Once the devices are authenticated (i.e., the WHUB is a genuineWHUB), a second secure communication channel with more capabilities isestablished between the handset 21310 and WHUB 21320. This allows theaction request and transaction information to be reliably transmittedbetween the two devices. Once the user's terminal 21310 is associatedwith the user's bank account, the WHUB 21320 can perform the functionsof an ATM for the user to manage his bank account (e.g., depositing orwithdrawing money from the user's bank account).

A communication of the second secure wireless connection or bothwireless connections can implement a WPAN transceiver, which has ahigher data rate and longer operational range compared to NFC. Thesecure communication can be implemented by hardware (e.g., a dedicatedhardware chipset) and software (e.g., data encryption algorithm). Thesecure communication allows the exchange of transaction processinformation such as price and credit card information for a purchaserequest and bidding proposals among transaction parties. It is alsonoted that the WHUB 21320 is optionally configured with a wirelesscommunication capability such as cellular network communication. TheWHUB 21320 is also preferably configured to operate with a system thatdelivers Internet content.

The WHUB 21320 can also exchange data with other WPAN devices 21350, andthe WPAN can include NFC functions for authentication purposes.

The NFC communication system used in this invention is an inductivelycoupled RFID system. Its working frequency is designed to utilize eitherlow frequency (LF) 125 kHz or high frequency (HF) 13.56 MHz, due to thefact that higher usable field strengths can be achieved in the operatingrange of the reader (e.g., 0-10 cm) in a lower frequency band than wouldbe the case in a higher frequency band.

Due to the short distance between the reader and NFC tag, this NFCsystem employs inductive coupling for data transmission. Energy neededfor the operation of the NFC tag 21322 can be provided by the NFC reader21322 (FIG. 24C). For this purpose, the reader's antenna coil 21805generates a strong, high frequency electromagnetic field, whichpenetrates the cross-section of the coil area and the area around thecoil. Because the wavelength of the frequency range used (125 kHz: 2400m, 13.56 MHz: 22.1 m) is several times greater than the distance betweenthe NFC reader's antenna and the NFC tag, the electromagnetic field maybe treated as a simple magnetic alternating field with regard to thedistance between NFC tag and antenna.

NFC uses magnetic field induction to enable communication betweendevices when they're touched together, or brought within a fewcentimeters of each other. The energy and wave transmission are based onMaxwell's equation

$\begin{matrix}\left\{ \begin{matrix}{\frac{\forall{\times \beta}}{\mu} = {j + \frac{\partial D}{\partial t}}} \\{{\forall{\times E}} = {- \frac{\partial B}{\partial t}}} \\{{\forall{\times E}} = 0}\end{matrix} \right. & (1)\end{matrix}$

where B is the magnetic induction, E is the electric field, D is theelectric displacement, and H is the magnetic field. The definition forcur ∀×A is

$\begin{matrix}{{\forall{\times A}} = {{\left( {\frac{\partial A_{Z}}{\partial y} - \frac{\partial A_{y}}{\partial z}} \right)\overset{\rightarrow}{x}} + {\left( {\frac{\partial A_{x}}{\partial z} - \frac{\partial A_{z}}{\partial x}} \right)\overset{\rightarrow}{y}} + {\left( {\frac{\partial A_{y}}{\partial x} - \frac{\partial A_{x}}{\partial y}} \right)\overset{\rightarrow}{z}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

A plane electric wave travel in the horizontal (“x”) direction space isrepresented as

$\frac{\partial^{2}E}{\partial x^{2}} = {\frac{1}{c^{2}}\frac{\partial^{2}E}{\partial t^{2}}}$

where c is the speed of light. The same form can be applied to magneticfield wave in a place perpendicular the electrical field. Both E&B fieldare perpendicular to the travel direction x:

E=E _(m) sin(kx−ωt)

B=B _(m) sin(kx−ωt)  (3)

The WHUB 21320 communicates with Location Server 21340 for the mobileterminal 21310 location. The Location Server 21340 may detect the mobileterminal 21310 location using various techniques such as Time Differenceof Arrival (TDOA), Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), GPS/AGPS,and cellular tower. The location information is used to promotemerchandise trading and accelerate and optimize the transaction process.The user location information can be further used for security purposes.For example, a user detected at location A may be declined to a requestfor a cash advance or withdrawal that is made from a WHUB 21320 that isactually at a different location B.

Received signal strength indication (RSSI) based location mechanism istypically used in the environment where the density of fixed referencesignal sources (such as cell tower, access points) is high. Thetransmitting power of a reference signal source is denoted as P_(t), andthe distance between the reference signal source and the mobile deviceis d. The RSSI can be calculated as follows:

P _(r) =P _(t)−20 log₁₀(4πf/c)−20 log₁₀ d  (4)

where f is the RF frequency.

The RSSI based location mechanism constitutes two steps: 1) site surveyto generate radio map and 2) table looking based location estimation. Instep 1, a radio map is generated via either manual site survey or someautomotive software algorithm. The radio contains list of positions withcorrelated RSSI values. After a radio map is generated, the location ofa mobile device is estimated by comparing the instant RSSI fromdifferent reference signal sources with the radio map. The location inthe radio map with the RSSI data that match the current RSSI data willbe considered as the mobile terminal's location.

Another position tracking method that may be used to provide thelocation information to the Location Server 21340 would typicallyinvolve a mobile user who is operating on an OFDM wireless communicationsystem. The OFDM system is one of the modulation schemes for nextgeneration wireless communication systems. An OFDM system with Nsub-carriers employs M-ary digital modulation, a block of log₂ M inputbits is mapped into a symbol constellation point d_(k) by a dataencoder, and then N symbols are transferred by the serial-to-parallelconverter (S/P). If T denotes the symbol interval, the symbol intervalin the OFDM system is increased to NT, which makes the system morerobust against the channel delay spread. Each sub-channel, however,transmits at a much lower bit rate of log₂ m/NT bits/s. The parallelsymbols (d₀d₁ . . . d_(k) . . . d_(N-1)) modulate a group of orthogonalsub-carriers, which satisfy

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{1}{NT}{\int_{0}^{NT}{{{\exp \left( {j\; 2\; \pi \; f_{i}t} \right)} \cdot {\exp \left( {j\; 2\; \pi \; f_{j}t} \right)}}{dt}}}} = \left\{ {{{\begin{matrix}1 & {i = j} \\0 & {i \neq j}\end{matrix}\mspace{14mu} {where}f_{i}} = \frac{i}{NT}},\left( {{i = 0},{1\mspace{14mu} \ldots}\mspace{14mu},{N - 1}} \right)} \right.} & (5)\end{matrix}$

The baseband transmitted signal can be represented as

$\begin{matrix}{{s(t)} = {{\frac{1}{\sqrt{NT}}{\sum\limits_{k = 0}^{N - 1}{s_{k}e^{j\; 2\pi \; f_{k}t}\mspace{14mu} \left( {0 \leq t \leq {NT}} \right)\mspace{14mu} f_{k}}}} = \frac{k}{NT}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

The average energy for the complex baseband symbol s_(k) is denoted by2E_(s). Then s_(k) is given by:

S _(k)=√{square root over (2E _(s))}·d _(k)  (7)

where d_(k)=d_(k,r)+jd_(k,i), is the signal constellation point (e.g.BPSK, QPSK, QAM, etc.) with normalized variance E[|d_(k)|²]=1. The realand imaginary parts d_(k,r) and d_(k,t) are statistically independent,identically distributed and E[d_(k,r)]=E[_(k,i)]=0.

A command frequency selective randomly varying channel with impulseresponse h(t, τ) is considered. Within the narrower bandwidth of eachsub-carrier, compared with the coherence bandwidth of the channel, thesub-channel is modeled as a frequency nonselective Rayleigh fadingchannel. Hence, the channel impulse response h_(k)(t, τ) for the k^(th)subchannel is denoted as

h _(k)(t,τ)=β_(k)(τ)·δ(τ)  (8)

where β_(k)(t) is a stationary, zero mean complex-valued processdescribed as follows. It is assumed that the processes β_(k)(t), k=1, .. . ,N, are complex-valued jointly stationary and jointly Gaussian withzero mean and covariance function

R _(β) _(k) _(,β) _(l) (τ)=E[β _(k)(t+τ)β*_(l)(t)],k,l=0, . . .,N−1.  (9)

For each fixed k, the real and imaginary parts of the process β_(k)(t)are assumed independent with identical covariance function. Furtherassumed is the factorable form

R _(β) _(k) _(,β) _(l) (τ)=R ₁(τ)R ₂(k−l),  (10)

with R₁(τ) and R₂(k−l) specified below. R₁(τ) gives the temporalcorrelation for the process β_(k)(t) which is seen to be identical forall k=0, . . . , N−1. R₂(k−l) represents the correlation in frequencyacross subcarriers. In this circumstance it is assumed that thecorresponding spectral density Ψ₁(f) to R₁(τ) is given by the Dopplerpower spectrum, modeled as Jakes model, i.e.,

$\begin{matrix}{{D(f)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}\frac{1}{\pi \; {F_{d} \cdot \sqrt{1 - \left( \frac{f}{F_{d}} \right)^{2}}}} & {{f} \leq F_{d}} \\0 & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.} & (11)\end{matrix}$

where F_(d) is the (maximum) Doppler bandwidth. Note that

R ₁(τ)=J ₀(2πF _(D)τ)  (12)

where J₀(τ) is the zero-order Bessel function of the first kind. Inorder to specify the correlation in frequency across subcarriers, anexponential multipath power intensity of the form

S(τ)=αe ^(−ατ) τ>0,α>0  (13)

is adopted, where α is a parameter that controls the coherence bandwidthof the channel. The Fourier transform of S(τ) yields

$\begin{matrix}{{\psi_{2}(f)} = \frac{\alpha}{\alpha + {j\; 2\pi \; f}}} & (14)\end{matrix}$

which provides a measure of the correlation of the fading across thesubcarriers. Then

R ₂(k−l)=ψ₂(Δf(k,l))  (15)

where Δf=1/NT is the frequency separation between two adjacentsubcarriers. The 3 dB bandwidth of Ψ₂(f) is defined as the coherencebandwidth of the channel and easily shown to be f_(coherence)=√{squareroot over (3)}α/2π. This model is applicable to many practical wirelessOFDM systems and physical channel scenario.

The given value of the first arrived path t₀ and noise vector n are bothzero mean random variable with probability density function represent as

$\begin{matrix}{{p\left( s \middle| t_{0} \right)} = {\frac{1}{{{Det}\left( Z_{s} \right)}\pi^{N}}{\exp \left( {{- s^{*}}Z_{s}^{- 1}s} \right)}}} & (16)\end{matrix}$

The value t₀ is obtained by applying ML when equation (16) is maximizedTherefore, the location of the mobile user is estimated based upon thevalue of t₀.

According to one aspect of the invention, the financial transaction mayor may not immediately follow authentication. The cellular phone may beconfigured to include browsing capability, which allows the cellularphone to be used to communicate with merchants prior to making apurchase request. Internet content can also be accessed by the cellularphone in association with a transaction request.

Also, the cellular phone may access Internet content through methodsother than through the WHUB.

Various purchase types may be made with the purchase request. Examplesmay include a physical item that is separately shipped to an address, adownload that is made available immediately, possibly to the cellularphone, a service, etc.

It is also noted that a purchase request is just one form of an actionthat may be carried out. Other business or financial transactioninformation processed by the system include but are not limited to billpayment, populating an account with funds, online shopping transactions,dynamic and reverse bidding, and others.

As necessary, additional information may also be required in associationwith a requested action. For example, account identification informationor passwords to access an account for the transaction parties hosted bythe system or an external server may be required. In thesecircumstances, the Account Management Server 21250 sends a request tothe WHUB for the information. The WHUB may store such information andrespond to such a request. Alternatively, the WHUB may further exchangeinformation with the user (through the handset), in order to obtain theadditional information requested.

In connection with the purchase request 21004, a payment request 21014is made between the WHUB 21320 and Account Management Server 21250through the network connection. The payment request 21014 allows theuser to complete the transaction related to the purchase request 21004.To accommodate a satisfactory completion of the payment request, theAccount Management Server 21250 corresponds with a payment gateway, andsends a solution 018 indicating the success or failure of the paymentrequest.

Upon an indication of a successful payment request, the WHUB 21320receives a receipt 21022 or confirmation number from the AccountManagement Server relating to the requested action, and passes 21024that and related information to the handset confirming completion of theaction. This may be a receipt, confirmation numbers, coupon codes, orthe like.

According to another aspect of the invention, Account Management Server(AMS) 21250 opens and manages accounts for users. The system users arecategorized into two transaction parties: the Item Request Party (IRP)and Item Supply Party (ISP). The ISP's income is remitted instantly orperiodically to the ISP's bank account from ISP's account with AccountManagement Server 21250. This solution has unique advantage forcross-border financial transactions, particularly, for those countriesthat don't have compatible credit card payment infrastructure acrossborders.

FIG. 25 illustrates certain functionality of the Account ManagementServer corresponding to an example of a payment solution for atransaction processed according to one aspect of the present invention.In this example, the IRP 21410 is a US tourist who has purchased tourismservice package in China from a Chinese travel agency (the ISP 21450).The credit payment of the IRP 21410 is transmitted 21413 to the systemprovider's bank account in the US 21253. The Account Management Server21250 adds the credit to the ISP's account with Account ManagementServer. The payment to the ISP's bank account in China is transmittedfrom the system provider's bank account in China 21257, e.g. with theBank of China, as soon as the IRP in the US confirms the purchase.Hence, the charge related to cross border money transmission is avoidedfor every single international trade and business processed by thesystem. The accumulated payment in the system provider's bank account atone country can be transmitted to the account at another countryperiodically. Or the payment from IRPs at country A to ISPs at country Bcancels out the payment from IRPs at country B to ISPs at country A socross country money transmission can be avoided. Further, the systemprovider may choose the same international bank for its accounts atdifferent countries to reduce the cross border financial transmissionfee. This aspect of the present invention not only allows sellers ofinternational business to receive payments promptly, it also benefitsthe online buyers and sellers with lower transmission fee forinternational trade and business. In addition, it provides an improvedpayment solution to the countries without sound credit card operations.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating the Center control Server 21200configured to provide an information platform for the informationprocess. In this embodiment, the system provides registered users withuser terminals 21460, 21310 and 21420. IRP request information is fromCenter Control Server to ISPs' terminals according to ISPs' particularneeds. Users can access their terminals from a server, a wirelessterminal, and the like. Account Management Server 21250 manages thepayment of the transaction based on the mechanism described in FIG. 25.Intelligent Recommendation Module 21230 provides the users withinformation related to the transaction such as market competitioninformation and transaction parties' credit and location information.Dynamic Reverse Auction Module 21210 and Dynamic Group TransactionModule 21220 manage the transaction information process.

FIGS. 26 and 27 illustrate an example of information flow among the ItemRequest Party (IRP) 21410, center control server (CCS) 21200, LocationServer (21340), and Item Supply Party (ISP) 21450. In the inventedsystem, ISPs bid instead of IRPs. In addition, the IRP leads the biddingprocess by submitting (step 21426) and modifying (step 21436) requestsand requirements of items or services. The ISPs, at their customizedterminals, access IRP's requests (step 21428), submit transactionproposal/offers (step 21432), and monitor the competitors' proposals andmodification of requests in real time (step 21438). The requests andrequirements may alter during the process according to the real-timecompetition information (step 21436). During the real time progress ofthe information process, the Center Control Server (CCS), viaIntelligent Recommendation Module (IRM) 21230, provides IRPs and ISPswith market competition information pertaining to IRP's requests andISP's proposals including but not limited to prices from marketcompetitors, quality, accessories of the requested items or services,credit rating and locations of transaction parties, analysis andrecommendations, and ongoing bidding activities and group buy/salenegations related with the requests and proposals.

FIG. 29 illustrates an example of a system 2900 that facilitatesefficient communication access by a mobile terminal (e.g., mobile phoneA). This may be useful where the user of the mobile terminal A cannotadequately access their assigned cellular network, but where they stillwant to make or receive a call or data exchange using the cellularnetwork. It may also be useful where the user can adequately access thecellular network, but does not wish to apply direct cellular networkaccess because of the availability of an easier-to-access local accesspoint and corresponding resources.

There are a variety of reasons why a mobile terminal might not be ableto adequately access the cellular network directly. For example, themobile terminal may be unable to communicate with a cellular networkbase station because of a bad communication situation such as a deepfade due to multipath, shadowing, and/or the Doppler effect. Many usersare familiar with situations where their mobile has no signal coveragefrom any cellular base station. Also, the capacity of a cell may befull. Other situations may also be present, such as battle fieldconditions, power outages or emergencies where an unusual number ofpeople attempt to access the network, etc.

According to one example, in this system 2900 another mobile terminal Bmay be in a good communication situation with respect to its cellularnetwork. Additionally, this mobile terminal B is preferably within ashort range communication distance with the mobile terminal A. In thisfashion, the first mobile terminal A uses the second mobile terminal Bas a relay point to reach a cellular network base station.

A variety of communication techniques may be used for the communicationbetween mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B, including but notlimited to WiFi, Bluetooth, UWB, RFID, Infrared communication, etc.

Preferably, although the mobile terminal A uses mobile terminal B as arelay to the cellular network, the relay is transparent, so that theuser of mobile terminal A uses the mobile terminal in the same fashionthat they would during ordinary direct communications that go over thecellular network. Thus, for example, the user of terminal A simply dialsa telephone number corresponding to a remote terminal device user(regular phone, cellular phone, etc.) and the call is completed, withoutrequiring the user to engage in additional communications or withadditional interfaces in order to carry out the communication process.Terminal A will typically pair with Terminal B before the communicationprocess using a communication such as a point-to-point Bluetoothcommunication. Once they are paired, one of the terminals (e.g., B) mayoperate as a wireless access point for the other terminal (e.g., A).Thus, from the perspective of the user of mobile terminal A, the usageand communication functionality would still appear to be that of normalusage involving the cellular network. In the example of a telephonecall, this would involve the user observing and interacting with, forexample, a touch screen depiction of the phone keypad just as they wouldduring normal usage.

Similarly, incoming calls would be routed to and received by the mobileterminal A as though the normal communication using the cellular networkwere being implemented. Thus, a remote user of another mobile device(phone, cell phone, etc.) would dial the regular number assigned tomobile terminal A, and the call would be received at mobile terminal Aaccordingly.

From the perspective of the cellular network, the communicationspreferably appear to be coming from the mobile terminal A as though theywere coming directly from the mobile terminal A in a regular cellularcommunication. In order to carry this out, mapping and routing areimplemented so that the communications are directed between the mobileterminal A through the relay involving the mobile terminal B andultimately through to the cellular network.

Mapping and routing are variously described herein, including but notlimited to FIG. 16 as described above. It should be noted that themapping and routing functions may reside at various locations, includingwithin mobile terminal A, within mobile terminal B and/or within anintermediate system such as the MC system as described herein.

In one example, the mapping table inside the MC system accommodatescross-matching of the phone number and SIM card between mobile terminalA and mobile terminal B. Authentication of the SIM card andcorresponding communications of any necessary key information may bemade between the cellular network and the mobile terminal A using therelay communication. If desired, a secondary encryption may be used forthe communications between mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B, ifsuch an authentication is desired by the cellular network serviceprovider. Whether this is required or not, the necessary communicationsto authenticate user access are provided through the relay communicationand according to the mapping tables.

It should be noted that due to current pragmatic considerations, it ispreferable that mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B have the samecellular service provider. This preference, however, is dependent uplogistics and constraints among the users and their cellular serviceproviders. With system access constraints removed, an alternativeenvironment involves the mobile terminal A and mobile terminal B havingdifferent service providers.

According to this alternative, provided that both users have cooperatingservice providers, mobile terminal A may use mobile terminal B despitethe two users having different cellular service providers. To carry outthis alternative, the cellular base station may be equipped to deal withrelayed communications, or the mapping may include fields correspondingto the first and second mobile terminals involved in the relayedcommunication, so that the communications may be directed accordingly.

FIG. 30 illustrates another example of a system 3000, wherein a modifiedWIFI access point provides a relay point for mobile terminal A.

This system 3000 may be useful under the same potential situations withregard to direct cellular network access by mobile terminal A asdescribed above. For example, the reception may be very poor, etc.

Here, a WIFI access point is available for mobile terminal A. Mobileterminal A uses the WIFI access point as a relay point to reach a basestation, or to be connected with a PSTN network, or to be connected withhigh speed internet.

As described regarding FIG. 29, mapping and routing are provided tocarry out the relayed communication, and the mapping may again beprovided by the MC system. In one example, the mapping table inside theMC system cross-matches the MAC address and the unique physical address(e.g., SIM card) between the modified WIFI access point and the mobileterminal A. Also, the MC system is configured to accommodate whateverSIM card related authentication of mobile terminal A is required by thecellular network.

At some point in the relayed communication, a communication with thecellular network is made. To do this, the WIFI access point may beequipped with cellular network communication capability as illustratedin the figure. It should be understood, however, that the communicationmay be transmitted away from the WIFI access point to another locationthat is more convenient or suitable for cellular network access. All ofthe same principles of relaying, mapping and correspondingcommunications described herein still may apply to such an alternative.

The intention of the MC system and corresponding relayed communicationsis not to merely provide VOIP to the mobile terminal A. Instead, withthe relayed communication and corresponding techniques as describedherein, the mobile terminal A can receive phone calls from anywhere andcan also call any one without requiring the user to engage in advanceadministrative procedures such as logging into a system, etc.

It should also be appreciated that mobile terminal A can seamlessly roamfrom the cellular network to the WIFI access point. Thus, the user ofmobile terminal A may use the mobile terminal A normally while outsidethe WIFI access point location (home, or office, or whatever locationthe WIFI access point is servicing). However, once the mobile terminal Aenters the range of the WIFI access point, the mobile terminal A may beswitched to accessing the WIFI access point. This technique may be usedto enhance the data receiving capabilities of the mobile terminal A, andto allow a reduction of the number of terminals directly accessing thecellular network base station for calls or other cellular networkdemands, when it is not necessary to do so. Significantly, this allowsthe cellular network provider to potentially re-direct the relaycommunication to accommodate base station demand management. That is,supposing that a lot of callers are using cellular network base stationX, and that a user of mobile terminal A is within WIFI access pointrange. Base station X is also the closest cellular network base station,and would normally be the base station through which mobile terminal Awould gain access to the cellular network for calls, etc. According tothis aspect of the invention, with the mobile terminal A accessing thenetwork through the relayed communication involving the WIFI accesspoint, and the mapping information provided by the MC system, thecommunications to and from mobile terminal A may be directed to anotherbase station, without ever having to burden base station X (even for anyinitial portion of the communication whatsoever).

Other than being equipped in order to carry out communications with thecellular base station as described above, and to include the MC systemfunctionality as described herein, a WIFI access point that is equippedas the relay point may be as is otherwise provided. For example, theWIFI access point may be a multipurpose device as provided by a cableinternet service provider, with the additional functionality of cellularcommunication capability and corresponding MC System functionality.

As illustrated in FIG. 30, the communication between mobile terminal A,mobile terminal B and/or sensors in the location serviced by thewireless access point may be WLAN, Bluetooth, UWB, NFC, etc., or anycombination thereof.

The MC System and CHS of FIG. 30, or the MC System as described inconnection with FIG. 29, may be provided as an apparatus that comprisesa processor and memory. The memory includes program code executable bythe processor to perform the operations for directing a relayedcommunication to the cellular network as described herein. The programcode may also be stored on the memory, or any non-transitory computerreadable medium (e.g., RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic disk, etc.).

FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram illustrating a mobile terminal such as acellular phone that is equipped to interface with a wind-poweredalternative energy generation device. The wind-powered alternativeenergy generation device includes an external rotational element that isconfigured to rotate when exposed to moving air. As evident from thefigure, the rotational element may preferably be such that it is notdirectionally dependent. In other words, the device does not need to bepointed in a particular direction corresponding to the incoming wind.The wind-powered alternative energy device also includes an interfacethat preferably interfaces with a conventional input (“port”) throughwhich the mobile terminal device ordinarily may receive power throughconventional alternative devices such as USB power cords. The wind-poweralternative energy device includes the rotational component that rotatesto drive a power generator within a power generation portion, which inturn delivers power to the mobile terminal device through the port.

The power generated by the wind-powered alternative energy device isdependent upon the rotational rate delivered to the power generationportion as well as the dimensions (radius, length) of the powergenerating components within the power generation portion.

When the mobile terminal is very low on power, the wind-poweredalternative energy generation device may be used as an alternativesource of power so that the user may make or receive an emergency call.

Although illustrated in connection with a mobile terminal device, thewind-power alternative energy device is also useful for providing powerto residential or commercial properties located in isolated areas and/orwhere wind is normally available.

According to another aspect, this present invention facilitatesnegotiation and competition among transaction parties using user'slocation information. Center Control Server obtains the locationinformation from Location Server. With the location information of IRP,certain request and requirement are sent only to ISP close to the IRP.Further, the location information of IRP is used to initiate “group buy”request (step 21462 in FIG. 27) by IRP within a same geographicallocation. According to this embodiment, individual IRP with similardemand may organize into groups and negotiate with ISPs collectively.Further, ISP can use the IRP's location information to organize “groupsale” by outputting discount group sale information only to the IRPlocated in a same geographical area via Center Control Server. Oneapplication of this invention is in retail industry: retail buyers paydiscount price available only for bulk purchase and manufacturersbenefit from increased sale, reduced cost and improved operationefficiency.

In the process of transaction information, the formation of group isintegrated into the process of ISP's bidding and IRP's requestmodification. In step 21472 in FIG. 27, the variables of group purchaserequest modified include group formation requirement and informationsuch as the time left before the deal is closed, size of the group,price, quantity, quality, services, and accessories of the itemrequested, etc. These variables alter simultaneously and continuouslyand affect the change of each other. The related market competitioninformation and recommendations are sent to the IRPs and ISPs fromCenter control Server. And the two transaction parties monitor thestatus of information variables of the competition real time.

This embodiment of the invention significantly improves the staticreverse bidding process in applications. The dynamic feature of thenegotiation process enables ISPs and IRPs to locate each other mostefficiently and effectively eliminating traditional distributionchannels and layers of middlemen and bypassing obstacles presented bytime and space.

A good application of this aspect of invention is in E-commerce. Withthe invented process, the buyers buy the most optimum products with thebest price based on real time competition among sellers in the globalcontext. Since the buyers themselves define requests and productrequirements, sellers are able to target the clientele effectively. Inaddition, the sellers' benefits are beyond being informed of marketdemand real time—they are able to update the customers of the latestproduct information through their terminals.

The location information of the users provided by Location Server can beused to start a “group buy” bidding by IRPs in a same geographical area,e.g. skiers at a ski resort. Furthermore, an IRP can initiate a dynamicreverse auction among ISPs from a designated geographical area. Inaddition, ISP can select IRPs according to IRPs locations to promote“group sale” products or services. Critically, according to users'location information, the location of the nearby wireless HUBs alongwith the information of ongoing bidding, negotiation, and grouptransaction promotion processed by the system are sent to user'sterminals. Last but not least, the user's location information is usedto authenticate a user and/or restrict his activities in a geographicalarea such as withdrawing money from some wireless HUBs.

Besides location information, the request and transaction proposals canbe sent to ISPs according to other criteria. Exclusive ISP receivesinformation that is blocked to his competitors. Further, ISPs can becategorized into classes for receiving market demand and competitioninformation of varied level of quality and/or at different timeinterval.

Another embodiment of the invention provides transaction parties totrade by exchanging their products and services without monetarytransactions. This embodiment of invention also provides credits or asystem currency for circulation among the users.

In another embodiment of the invention, a user's participation of thetransactions or programs processed at the system is motivated throughsystem credit or other kind of reward. The system credit is used amongsystem users for trading goods, services. The credit is calculated witha rate, which increases with acceleration based on the participation ofthe user or the credit accumulated through participation. The rate canalso be determined together with other variables such as user'sparticipation of an ongoing promotion or the number of system usersreferred.

One embodiment of the invention is that an immediate acceptance pricefor IRP's request is indicated and/or a corresponding deposit is made inan escrow account managed by the Account Management Server. As soon asan ISP proposes a transaction that meets the immediate acceptance price,the transaction is confirmed and the deposit is transferred to an ISP'saccount.

The above applications of the disclosed method and system are merelyexample of the invention, provided for the sake of completeness and forthe education of the reader by way of concrete examples. The inventioncan be embodied in various forms and applied in different industrysectors. Combinations and sub-combinations of the various embodimentsdescribed above will occur to those familiar with this field, withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, thefollowing claims should not be limited to the description of theembodiments or otherwise constrained in any way to the details ofimplementation.

Thus embodiments of the present invention produce and provide multimediacommunications between different terminals. Although the presentinvention has been described in considerable detail with reference tocertain embodiments thereof, the invention may be variously embodiedwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore,the following claims should not be limited to the description of theembodiments contained herein in any way.

1. An apparatus for converting and sending multimedia informationcontents, the apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory, thememory storing program code executable by the processor, configured toperform operations comprising: receiving, by a mobile terminal, amultimedia content item, the multimedia content item comprising acompressed digital video signal; converting the multimedia content itemto produce a converted multimedia content item for reproduction by adestination device; and sending the converted multimedia content item tothe destination device, wherein the sending comprises: establishing apredetermined channel operatively in communication with the destinationdevice in conjunction with a navigational command to the destinationdevice for the predetermined channel; and transmitting the convertedmultimedia content item to the destination device through saidpredetermined channel, the predetermined channel comprising a highdefinition digital interface; wherein the converting comprisesdecompressing the compressed digital video signal to a decompressedsignal; wherein the converting further comprising encoding thedecompressed signal to an encoded signal for transmission through thepredetermined channel; wherein the converted multimedia content itemcomprises the encoded signal; and wherein the destination device is adigital television.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the highdefinition digital interface is a high definition multimedia interface(HDMI).
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is acellular phone.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the multimediacontent item is received through is a cellular network.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the converting is performed by an intermediarydevice between the mobile terminal and the digital television.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the converting is performed by the mobileterminal.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the multimedia contentitem is received from a wireless local area network.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the converting is performed by the mobile terminal andan intermediary device between the mobile terminal and the digitaltelevision.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the mobile terminal isa cellular phone.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receiving power by the mobile terminal through thehigh definition digital interface during the converting.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the power is received from the digitaltelevision.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving power by the apparatus through a cable during theconverting; and wherein the converted multimedia content item istransmitted, through the cable, for said reproduction by the destinationdevice.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predetermined channelis established in conjunction with the navigational command, thenavigational command being from a channel button.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 6, wherein the apparatus is the mobile terminal.
 15. The apparatusof claim 14, wherein the mobile terminal is a cellular phone.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus is the mobile terminal. 17.The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the converting is performed by themobile terminal.
 18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the convertingis performed by the mobile terminal.